


What Will You Do Now?

by KirbyChan



Category: Ghost - Mystery Skulls (Music Video), Mystery Skulls (Band), Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Fluff, Multi, NSFW implications
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-20 10:57:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 42,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3647775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KirbyChan/pseuds/KirbyChan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They had promised they would be there for each other...always.</p>
<p>Drabbles about the gang and their lives. Can be anything. Most of them take place in the same universe but some are AUs. Contains various headcanons and the Lewvithur ship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Inspiration

She was lucky Tome Tomb was right next to the shop, otherwise she wouldn’t have an excuse. The bell at the entrance to Kingsmen Mechanics rang, even though the sign said it was closed, making Lance look up in annoyance. “Can’t you read the sign? We’re-”

But he stopped himself when he saw Vivi and relaxed. “Oh. Hey Viv,” he said with an almost forlorn smile. “You read the sign, right?”

“Yeah,” the bluenette replied cheerfully. “But I let myself in. Is there a problem?”

“Nah, just…don’t want people thinking we’re open, is all.”

“Why are you closed so early? It’s only six o clock!”

Lance shrugged. “Eh…didn’t have the heart to keep it open right now.” Making Vivi frown. She could easily guess the reason why.

“Actually, that’s why I’m here. I need a favor from him. Is he in the garage?”

A nod and Lance motioned to the door to the garage behind him. “Yeah. Buried in work like always.”

As if she didn’t already know. She was almost sad to admit that Arthur was much better than he was the first few weeks he got out of the hospital. Though…that wasn’t saying much. The first few weeks had been hell. Arthur had refused to take care of himself and his uncle had to do mostly everything for him.

But finally, after about a month, Lance had somewhat snapped his nephew out of it. He was eating and had gone back to working in the shop. It was an improvement. The only problem was…that was all Arthur seemed to do. Each day it seemed like he said less and less. 

She vowed that she’d pull Arthur out of this rut somehow. Lewis’ death really shook him, and he even lost his arm in the process. Arthur had just recently been fitted with a prosthetic but he never wore the damn thing. Said it was itchy and uncomfortable. 

“Okay. Thanks, Uncle Lance.”

“Vivi, how many times do I gotta tell you? I’m not your damn uncle.”

She merely grinned at him and waltzed into the garage. “Artie!”

Said blonde’s head shot up at the sudden voice. “Oh…Vivi. What are you doing here?” And at least he was talking too. Vivi had to admire the fact that even with one arm, Arthur was still as handy as ever.

“I need a favor!” She replied cheerfully, perhaps a little too cheerfully. “Mystery’s out of dog food and I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind driving us to Petsmart real quick?” Vivi motioned to the dog at her side and gave her sweetest smile.

He’d forgotten that she didn’t have a car of her own. “Wait, then how’d you get here?”

“I walked, silly.” Oh, of course… Tome Tomb was close enough to her house that she could walk there and to Kingsmen Mechanics in one fell swoop. “But Petsmart is a little too far away. Please?”

Arthur suddenly looked dejected, staring down into the engine he was working on. “I…I’m kinda busy-!” But before he could even get out the rest of his excuse, he felt a hand ruffle his normally spiky hair. It had flattened recently. He hadn’t had the heart to take care of it like normal. 

“Forget it, Arthur. Drive your friend somewhere. You need to get out of the shop anyway,” Lance huffed. 

“But Uncle Lance-!”

“Don’t “but” me. You’ve been in here for days and you’re beginning to stink the place up. It’s just a small errand. It won’t kill you.”

Arthur would have loved to argue that. “But…”

“I just said no buts. Now go before I kick you out.”

Well, there was no going back now. Arthur sighed in defeat and slumped over to the van, Vivi and Mystery following him. She mouthed “thank you” to Lance, who merely smiled and opened the garage for them.  
\--  
Thankfully it only took about ten minutes to get there. Arthur absolutely refused to let anyone other than himself (and previously Lewis) drive his van. Lewis only got to drive it because of their history together. He had known the guy since middle school, after all…

A wince. That wasn’t something he needed to think about right now. He had to pay attention to the road. Having only one arm didn’t stop Arthur from driving at all. He tried to drive with the prosthetic but complained that it only slowed him down. So he switched to only one hand. He had to adjust (and luckily Lance let him do so in the safety of the parking lot) but that barely took any time at all. 

“Alright, we’re here,” Arthur mumbled while putting the van in park. “Can you make it quick?”

Vivi frowned. “You’re not coming inside with us?”

“No. Why would I?”

“So you could spend time with us!” Vivi had just about had it with Arthur’s attitude. She wanted her best friend back. Her sudden outburst left Arthur speechless. “Please Arthur? I know it’s been hard since Lewis’…since he left us.” So she still thought about it too. Of course she would. “But you have to snap out of it! I miss hanging out with you, going on ghost hunts with you, just…you being you.

“So…please? Please just come inside?”

_It won’t kill you._

Yeah… Arthur knew his uncle had a point. He hadn’t meant to hurt Vivi. That was the absolute last thing he ever wanted. “…A-alright. Sorry, Vi, I just…” The mechanic fell silent when he felt her hand over his. 

“I know.” Two simple words and yet they meant the world to Arthur. He even gave her a little smile, the first one he had given anyone in weeks.  
\--  
Mystery trotted around the store happily. He had to be on a leash, rules of the store of course, but for now he didn’t seem to mind. When Arthur saw Mystery like this, an innocent looking dog, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was just hallucinating that giant form in the cave…

But a tiny dog like Mystery couldn’t tear off someone’s arm. 

“Oh man…” Vivi groaned. “They’ve rearranged things. Now I have no idea where the dog food is.”

Arthur tilted his head. “Want me to go ask someone?”

A pause. While that sounded like the practical thing to do, wandering their way around here sounded like the perfect opportunity to keep Arthur out of that stuffy workshop longer than anticipated. Her annoyed frown quickly turned into a pleased smile at this thought. “No, that’s okay! We can find it ourselves! It’ll be like an adventure!”

Sometimes Vivi was so childlike, though Arthur couldn’t help the amused snort. “The adventure for dog food, huh?” Mystery perked up. He liked the sound of that! And what a great reward! “I don’t think it’ll sell tickets, Vi.”

“Pft! Then they don’t know what they’re missing!” She happily trudged ahead with Mystery right on her heels. 

_‘Sheesh, and they call me a dork.’_ But he wouldn’t have it any other way. And it was then that Arthur realized that he truly missed just simple outings like this. He was ashamed that he had forgotten what it was like…

Their search for dog food had landed them in the small rodents section of the store and Arthur was immediately drawn to it. Rats, mice…and hamsters, of course. He smiled down at the little creatures. Vivi wouldn’t mind this little detour, right?

He started feeling a tad nostalgic. More than a few of these little guys had a home back when he was a kid. Somehow down the line, his parents had forbid him to get anymore. Maybe they were tired of paying for them. 

“Oh Arthur!” Vivi’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Arthur look!”

“What?”

And again Vivi was all smiles. “This hamster! It looks exactly like you!”

It was true. The fur was the right shade of Arthur’s hair, save for the white belly, and it even had the little strands of brown hair hanging in his face (usually they were standing up, but since he hadn’t messed with his hair in so long…). 

It was strange, however. All the other hamsters were running around as excited as can be. This one just lied there…unmoving. 

And it just looked…so sad.

“Hamster Arthur! How cute!~” Vivi squealed before turning to the real Arthur. “Are you going to get him?”

That was a question he wasn’t ready for. “I –er…”

“Excuse me.” A different voice cut him off this time. The two of them looked up to see one of the workers looking down at them with a rather somber look. They moved out of the way and she quickly opened the very same hamster cage they were looking into…and picked up the very same hamster they were looking at as well. “Sorry, little guy…” Arthur heard her mumble and immediately had a bad feeling.

“Miss?” He called out to stop her. “Is…is there something wrong?”

“Oh, well…you mean about this little one?”

“Y-yeah…”

Again she sighed sadly. “He can’t move his back legs. Born with his lower half paralyzed. And well…people aren’t going to want a hamster that doesn’t move so…”

Arthur felt sick. They were going to put the little guy down, weren’t they? Just because he was paralyzed…

Losing the use of limbs was a horrible experience. Arthur could relate. _‘He’s just like me…’_

And then he stood, determined. “Bullcrap.”

“E-excuse me?”

“Bullcrap that nobody would want him. I’ll take him.”  
\--  
It all happened so fast that even Vivi couldn’t catch up. Before she knew it, Arthur had gotten food, a cage, treats, toys, shavings, everything a hamster could have ever wanted and more. She had all but forgotten about getting food for Mystery at this point. It had been quite some time since she’d seen Arthur so determined.

But she could immediately understand why. Arthur connected with the tiny creature. It wasn’t just about the looks. She knew that look in his eye. Arthur wanted to prove a point.   
Finally everything was paid for and (after remembering the reason they came here in the first place), they were out the door. Vivi and even Mystery were helping carry all of the supplies back to the van. They settled nicely in the back.

Arthur paused. This could be a problem. He wanted to drive but he also didn’t want his new pet to leave his side. 

Oh boy. That only meant one thing. “Hey, uh, Vivi?”

“Yeah?”

“You, um…” He knew this was going to sound weird. “Would you…mind driving?”

Silence. Vivi stared at him like he had grown a second head. She put a hand onto his forehead. “Artie, are you feeling okay?”

He swatted her hand away. “Come on. I gotta hold onto this little guy and I don’t have an extra arm to drive with, alright?”

Giggle. “I know, I’ve just never heard you ask me to drive your van! I’ll have to mark this day on my calendar!” 

“Yeah, and you’d better treat her right…” As overprotective of that van as always. Vivi would never understand it, but then again, she knew next to nothing about cars. 

It felt weird being in the passenger’s seat of the van again. Sometimes when Lewis was driving he’d sit up here, but normally this was Vivi’s spot…

_‘Don’t think about it, Arthur. Just don’t.’_

Instead, he opened the tiny box they had placed the hamster in and peered inside with a smile. The hamster stared right back at him with his beady black eyes. “Hey there…” He mumbled, not noticing Vivi watching him in the corner of her eye as she drove. “I know it’s kinda sudden but I hope you like your new home.” The mechanic reached in with his only hand and gently pet the tiny hamster. 

It let out a tiny squeak. Obviously the poor thing was still startled. Arthur was surprised the hamster didn’t full on bite him.

“That was really sweet of you, Arthur…” Vivi gently cooed to her friend. He knew that kindhearted Arthur was still in there somewhere. “You saved his life.”

Arthur fell silent. He went from taking life to saving it… This wouldn’t make up for anything, at least when it came to Lewis…but one step at a time. Maybe he could make life just a little bit better for this little guy. “I want to see if there’s something I can do for him. Maybe help him walk somehow.” In fact he already had something in mind.   
“Really?”

“Yeah.” Gently Arthur scratched the little ham-ham under the chin. “He deserves to run around just like everyone else. Just lying there doesn’t sound like all that much fun…”  
The hamster looked at him curiously. “And then…maybe…”

“Maybe what?”

“N-nothing.”

“Aw, come on! Tell me what you were going to say!”

But Arthur merely smiled. “I wanna work out a few details first. But when I do, you’ll be the first to know. Promise.” That twinkle in his eye, the one that Vivi knew meant he had tons of ideas just swimming through his mind, made her glad she and Lance had forced Arthur on this trip.

Maybe a hamster was just what he needed. Another distraction, someone to take care of. Someone to talk to when Lance was too busy and Vivi or Mystery weren’t there either. It was perfect.

Speaking of Arthur’s uncle…

“Arthur, what the hell? You brought home a hamster?”

“Yep, I sure did. This is what happens when you kick me out, Uncle Lance.”

“…Remind me never to kick you out ever again.”  
\--  
It was so quiet in the room that one could practically hear a pin drop. Arthur was in full concentration mode, tongue popped out the side of his mouth and everything as he put the finishing touches on his little invention. “There we go!” Finally some noise around here.

Smiling, Arthur turned and walked over to the large glass home he had gotten for his pet hamster. “Alright Galaham, it’s all finished,” he said while picking him up. “Ready to try it out?” His only response was a confused tilt of the head and Galaham continued to chew on his sunflower seed.

It was a good enough confirmation as any. He plopped back down into his seat before getting setting Galahad onto the small contraption he had built for him. A small set of wheels, designed to perhaps replace the little guy’s back legs. 

The hamster wobbled the moment he was put in this strange thing. To go from having to movement to extremely fluid movement was something Galahad wasn’t expecting and his face quickly met the floor (not that they weren’t well acquainted already). With a wince, Arthur helped him up so he could try again.

And again. And a few more times. Arthur debated on getting rid of the thing but Galaham seemed determined at this point if the angry squeaking wasn’t a good enough clue. Finally the hamster seemed to get it and soon enough the little guy was zooming all around the room like he had lived with that thing all his life. The mechanic was impressed.   
It only made sense though, Galaham being his assistant after all. Arthur smiled at the small inside joke. He held out his hand for Galaham to come into and in an instant he was there, nuzzling Arthur’s cheek in thanks. 

It had been a while since he felt like this. Proud of what he had done…happy for himself. He had to show his uncle. 

“So he can move around on that thing?”

“Yeah! It took a little practice but now he’s a pro!” Arthur set Galaham down just for a small demonstration, but as soon as he did, the little hamster took off like a rocket. “Uh…” And laughed nervously. “He’s a fast learner.”

“Christ, no kidding…” Just as the ham-ham was zooming by, Lance managed to grab him and plop him right back into Arthur’s hand. “Keep a better eye on him, will ya?”

“I will, I will.” Arthur knew his uncle would never admit it but he knew the other had grown fond of Galaham in the short time he had been a part of the family. “Oh! I wanted to show you something else too!” He quickly turned to head back up to his room, hoping his uncle knew him enough to follow.

Of course he did. Lance knew Arthur better than anyone. “Yeah? What’s it this time?”

The answer was received in the form of blueprints. Lance’s eyes widened. He knew Arthur was smart but he had never seen the boy design such intricate blueprints before. “Is this…a prosthetic arm?”

“Yeah!” Arthur replied excitedly, more excited than Lance had seen him in quite some time. “Galaham inspired me! I figured if he could have robot legs (kind of), I could have a robot arm!”

Lance smiled as he listened to his nephew babble on. “It’s made of metal and not that really annoying plastic, and it’ll be attached directly to the nerves, and…”   
Maybe he was finally starting to heal. He didn’t mind the hamster so much after that.


	2. Certain Habits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What does Uncle Lance think of the ot3?

Lance wasn’t an idiot. He could be a little dense sometimes but he was by no means blind.

Ever since Arthur had lost his arm, Lance had trained himself to see the small changes in his nephew. It started out as noticing when Arthur wore long sleeves to hide his remaining arm, or the guilty look in his eye whenever someone talked about Lewis. 

It never really hit him how deep this rut Arthur had gotten himself into was until Vivi dragged Arthur in one rainy night, telling the older man how she had to talk him off of a ledge. After that, Lance always made sure someone was keeping an eye on Arthur. If it wasn’t him, it was someone in the shop, or Vivi, or even that damned dog of her’s (although at first Arthur was extremely jumpy around Mystery). 

Once Galahad became part of the family, things seemed to get better. His nephew had even crafted himself a robotic arm (with some help of course). 

And then suddenly Lewis was back. Arthur had texted his uncle saying that he was finally coming home from an extremely long cross country tour of various haunted estates. 

What he wasn’t expecting was their deceased fourth member of their group to be with them.

Arthur looked tired. Extremely tired. And spooked, but that was a given. The kid could never really handle all the ghosts and hauntings Vivi dragged him too.

Well, not dragged. Arthur loved his friends and always went with them willingly, even if he didn’t particularly like what they did. They wanted him to come along and he wanted to be with them so Lance couldn’t complain too much. He didn’t believe in all this ghost and spirit mumbo-jumbo but the kids were having a good time and travelling around. 

And everything turned out alright in the end. Most of the time.

But this… _this..._ Lance didn’t know what to think about this. It had been almost two years since Lewis’ death and he looked exactly the same, save for the dead and hollowed out eyes.

The first time Lance saw them, it sent a shiver down his spine. This was the first time he had ever seen a ghost, and Lewis of all people. Suddenly he wished he had taken Vivi’s babbles more seriously. Usually he tuned them out whenever she started going off. 

“Lewis…?”

“H-hey…Mr. Kingsmen.”

At first he thought this was some sort of trick. Some sort of hologram Arthur made at Vivi’s request to get Lance to believe in the supernatural. But the way the figure carried himself, the way he spoke, the way he _fucking refused to call him by his first name…_

It was Lewis alright. Lance had no doubt in his mind. Arthur had been friends with Lewis since middle school and Lance had known him just as long. Those trained eyes landed on his nephew. Holding onto his metal arm like his life depended on it. Bags around his eyes. Looking guilty. Arthur was hiding something big, and not just the fact that they had found a ghostly Lewis. 

He reached over and grabbed Arthur’s prosthetic arm, starting to drag him away. “’Scuse us,” he grumbled and pulled his nephew into a few rooms over, ignoring the panicked and confused looks Lewis and Vivi sent their way.

“Arthur. What the hell is going on?”

“Ah…w-well…it’s a-a little hard to explain, Uncle Lance.”

He plopped himself down in a chair, crossing his arms. “Try me.”

Lance always knew when Arthur was hiding something. Always. The kid was already a terrible liar and had only managed to get away with lying to his uncle once. 

In fact, now that he thought about it, Arthur never once told him what happened the night he lost his arm. Vivi had told him since Arthur absolutely refused to talk about it. But even then, Vivi was only recounting what Arthur had told her. 

And judging from the guilty looks his nephew always had when talking about Lewis, there was something else going on here. Lance was determined to get it out of him. “And I mean it, Arthur. Tell me everything.” 

So he did. Lance watched as Arthur slowly broke down. Going to the cave, splitting up with Lewis one way, the left side of his body going numb. Being possessed.

Pushing Lewis.

It became increasingly clear just why Arthur never told anyone about this, even his own family. “N-nobody would believe me…if I said what happened… A-and Vivi didn’t remember anything… I didn’t know what to do…! I didn’t mean to kill him! I didn’t, I swear! P-please believe me, I didn’t-!” Arthur stopped when he felt a hand over his only flesh one.

Lance didn’t say a word for the longest time. He was horrible at talking about feelings and even worse at showing them. But he tried. He pulled Arthur into a hug and just held him there. Even when his nephew broke down again, he continued to comfort as best as he could. “I believe you, kiddo.” After what he just witnessed, Lance was willing to give into his suspension of disbelief.

Arthur wouldn’t hurt a fly if he could help it. It wasn’t in the kid’s nature. He continued, saying how they found Lewis in a mansion, how he was a skeleton ghost…and how Lewis had tried to kill him. Lance tensed when he heard that.

“He did what?”

From the look on Arthur’s face, he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “Uncle Lance-”

“He tried to kill you?”

“I _did_ kill him!”

“No you didn’t! You just said something used your body to do it!”

“And he knows that now!” Lance fell silent as Arthur tried to catch his breath. “He…he knows… It took a really long time…a few weeks at least…” A few weeks? They’ve been travelling around with a ghost for a few weeks? “B-but…but everything’s okay…or well…as okay as it can be for now…”

“He forgave you?”

“…” That silence only made Lance even more worried. “I don’t know,” Arthur answered honestly. “I don’t think he’ll ever really forgive me. But everything’s better than they were when we first found him. I promise… S-so please, Uncle Lance. Don’t be angry at him.”

This was so messed up. Nobody was truly at fault here. Arthur hadn’t meant to kill him. Lewis didn’t have all of the information. Vivi didn’t have her memories. Everything was just fucked up. Who the hell was he supposed to blame? 

“Fine…” But the brightened look that appeared on his nephew’s face with just that one word was perhaps worth it. He watched as Arthur ran from the room, back to his friends. He heard their concern (they probably overheard the whole thing, damn kids). With a sigh, Lance reached into his pocket and lit up a cigarette. 

He was going to need at least a few of these.

\--

His trained eyes had started to see the changes. Arthur worked with a vigor Lance hadn’t seen in almost two years. His nephew had always been dedicated to his work but after Lewis died, the way he worked was almost robotic (and not just because of the arm). Like he had to do it in order to keep himself sane.

Now it looked like Arthur was worked because he genuinely enjoyed it. Lance had to admit, he missed that pleased look on Arthur’s face when he finished a project. Even the other workers in the shop had taken notice of Arthur’s change of tone.

When Lewis and Vivi came to visit, the three of them would talk and laugh and it was almost as if Lewis had never died. Lance almost forgot numerous times that Lewis was a ghost but one look at those eyes (when the sunglasses were off) was enough to push him back into reality, as screwed up as it was. 

But then something started to change once again. It started when Arthur came home one evening with his face beet red. When asked what happened, Arthur’s only reply was a curt “Nothing!” before he retreated to his room for the night. After that, Lance started to notice the interactions between the three of them were slightly different. Not the topics, but just the way they presented themselves. 

The way Arthur looked at them. Lance had seen that look before. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on. But he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t worried. 

Not about Vivi. The little blue girl was never anything to worry about (except when she was angry apparently. And behind the wheel). It was Lewis.

The day when Lance took Lewis aside in private was one of the weirdest days of his life. He hadn’t spoken to Lewis much since his return, no doubt the ghost had noticed if that look he gave him was anything to go by, and Lance’s gaze hardened when he had Lewis alone. It was the most serious Lewis had ever seen the man.

“I know what’s going on.”

Lewis remained silent.

“I’ve seen the way Arthur looks at you. I’m not blind.” 

He was silent for a moment longer before finally the ghost spoke up. “He…he hasn’t…”

“Hasn’t said a word.”

Lewis’ face fell.

“But I wanna tell you something. I don’t give a damn if the three of you are together, alright?” Now the ghost just seemed confused. “He’s been happy lately. The happiest I’ve seen him in years. If being with you and Vivi does that to him then I’m all for it. But not everyone will be. You understand that, right?”

A nod.

“I hope you do. My stupid nephew’s already been through enough heartbreak in his life. I almost lost him twice when you weren’t around. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to see him like that again. So I’m gonna make this perfectly clear.

“You do anything, and I mean anything, to hurt Arthur again, and I will personally send you to the deepest pits of hell. Or whatever equivalent the afterlife has to offer.” He watched as Lewis’ sunglasses fell slightly off his nose and somehow those hollowed eyes looking so scared gave Lance a small feeling of satisfaction.

“Not that I expect you to. You’re a good kid, Lewis. Just keep that in mind.” 

Lewis fixed his glasses and nodded. “Y-yes sir.”

“Good.” Lance gave the purple-haired ghost a pat on the back. “Now get outta here and take him with you. He’s been in here since last night and needs a break.”

Blink. “Last night? He hasn’t slept or anything?”

“Nope. Not that I know of.”

That was all Lewis needed to hear before he was out the door and back over with his two best friends (and more). Lance smiled at the way Lewis fussed over Arthur, berating him for not sleeping again, and him and Vivi dragging his nephew out. 

It would take some getting used to. But Lance had a feeling he didn’t need to worry much about Arthur anymore.


	3. Start of Something New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> High school sweethearts?

He couldn’t stop staring at it. He swore it was mocking him.

“Lew?”

And the longer he stared at it, the more he was starting to reconsider. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he shouldn’t ask.

“Yo, Lewis.”

This was a huge life change, after all… And they were just getting out of high school…

“LEWIS!”

“Huh-?!” The purple haired gent snapped his head up and gazed over at his best friend. “Wh-what?”

“You alright?” Arthur tilted his head, concerned. “You’ve been staring at that thing for fifteen minutes. It didn’t look like you were even breathing.”

With a sigh, Lewis gazed back down to the class ring in his palm before pocketing it. “Yeah, I…I’m alright.” He was completely losing his nerve and it was easy to tell.

Their table at lunch time had gotten awfully quiet during the last year of their high school career. Vivi had graduated last year, which eliminated roughly 75% of the excitement the two of them were used to during school hours. They never knew how much they missed the blue girl’s craziness until she didn’t come here anymore.

Which was what prompted Lewis’ sudden decision. Arthur smiled and nudged the other. “If you keep thinkin’ about it, you’re just gonna get cold feet. Why don’t you just do it after school?”

“Because. That’s not how I want to do it.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “You guys have been dating since we became juniors. I don’t think she’ll mind if you don’t do something super fancy, Lew. She doesn’t seem like the type to like fancy things anyway.”

He instantly regretted those words when Lewis’ face fell. “B-but I mean hey, I know this is important to you! Er…” Arthur sighed. “Shit, sorry, Lewis… You know I didn’t mean it like that.”

At least that earned him a smile. Lewis put a hand on the blonde’s shoulder. “I know. It’s just…she means a lot to me. I want this to be really special.”

“And it will be! “ The mechanic replied, nudging his friend once more. “But if you stare at that thing any longer, you’re gonna burn a hole in it. Relax, Lew. She’ll say yes no matter what you do. She loves ya more than anything.”

Lewis blushed and looked away. It was always embarrassing when Arthur said things like that. “You haven’t told her, have you?”

“Of course not! I just know her. And I know she’ll say yes.”

“Why are you so sure?”

Arthur gave his best friend a look. “Come on. You’re smart, fun, pretty damn attractive (no homo), and you’re just as nuts about the whole paranormal thing as she is.” A pause. “…Well okay, maybe not _as_ nuts as she is, but you get the point. She’s head over heels for you, Lew. No contest.”

Always a way with words. Chuckling, Lewis replied, “Smart, says the guy who skipped sixth grade.”

The mechanic blushed. Just one of the many reasons he was bullied; he was a year younger than anyone else in his grade. “Th-that’s got nothing to do with this. Point is, I already know how this is gonna go.” Brushing to topic off himself, Arthur leaned his chin into his hand. “And if it turns out I’m wrong, I’ll…I dunno, buy you a few drinks or something.”

“Arthur, we’re underage.”

“Good thing we don’t have to worry about it, huh?” Grinning, Arthur smacked Lewis on the back. “Now go get ‘er, tiger!”

A sigh. Arthur seemed to be forgetting they still had a few weeks before graduation, and from there…Lewis’ plans. But he smiled nonetheless. It was hard to be so down when he had someone so confident. “Thanks, Artie.”

—

Graduation went off without a hitch. Lewis’ giant family had been overjoyed the entire time, cheering for both Lewis and Arthur. And while Lance wasn’t exactly the best at showing his emotions, Arthur could tell his uncle was proud. It was really all he wanted.

But throughout all the cheering, the ones cheering the loudest were definitely Vivi and her family. Somehow they had even gotten Mystery in here. Lewis didn’t want to know how long it took Vivi to convince the owners to allow that.

It felt like forever before they had a chance to rest. Between preparing the ceremony, the ceremony itself, and all the pictures (which Arthur wasn’t too pleased about), the evening didn’t come fast enough. “Finally!” Arthur groaned as he practically collapsed onto a nearby bench. “I swear, if I had to stand for one more picture, I was gonna walk out of there.”

Lewis smiled sadly and put a hand on his friend’s back. He always did wonder why Arthur never liked getting his picture taken. Camera shy was one thing but he seemed to genuinely hate it. “At least it’s over right?”

“Right. Now we just gotta wait for everyone to find us because I’m not walking around anymore.”

As if on cue, a whirl of blue appeared from nowhere and soon Lewis found himself tackled to the ground by a very excited Vivi. “You did it!” She squealed, hugging Lewis for all he was worth.

“Ack-! Vivi!”

She happily smooched Lewis on the lips before turning to Arthur. Immediately the blonde scooted away from her as much as the bench would allow it.

“V-Vivi wait-!”

Too late, now Arthur had to endure the attack of Vivi’s hugs. “I’m so proud of you both! You looked amazing up there!”

“Great! Can you let go? I need my ribs, y’know!”

“Aw c’mon Artie, don’t be a party pooper!”

Meanwhile, the families had caught up to the blue whirl and Lewis was bombarded with tackles from his little siblings. “Hey-!” He laughed but was slightly discouraged. It wasn’t going to be easy getting Vivi alone at this rate.

But luckily Arthur seemed to catch on. Gently he pried Vivi off of him and pointed to their purple-haired friend. “I think you should rescue him.”

She turned and grinned. “’Ey! You guys don’t get to hog him! Move over!”

Poor Lewis. Arthur almost felt sorry for him, but as Lance put a proud hand on his shoulder, the two of them laughed at the spectacle before them. “I think you just made it worse, Art.”

“Who said that wasn’t the idea?~”

Lewis’ siblings (and Vivi) were practically hanging off of him as he hugged his parents. His mother had to pry all three of her younger children from her oldest. “We’re so proud of you, querido…” She said with happy tears in her eyes, pecking Lewis on the cheek.

“Ah…thanks mamá.” He was pulled into a hug from both his mother and his father. Their family was large but no amount of love was lost between any of them. Vivi found it endearing.

“So!” Lance spoke up with a grin. “Who’s ready to celebrate? All on me.”

He was met with a few objections, mostly dealing with him taking the entire bill, and during the spat Lewis turned to the girl with her arms still around his waist.

And blushed. It was now or never. “Hey…Vivi?”

She looked up at him with her gorgeous blue eyes, and Lewis swore he couldn’t think of anything more beautiful. “Yeah Lew?”

“Could I…ask you something?”

“Of course, silly!” Taking his hands, Vivi grinned. “What is it?”

“…In private, I mean.”

The blue girl’s grin fell and she tilted her head in confusion. “Well sure, but…aren’t we getting ready to go?”

His chest hurt and Lewis swore he felt his heart sink a little. Maybe she didn’t want to hear what he wanted to say. Maybe…

No. Don’t chicken out now.

“Please Vivi? It’s really important.” The look he gave her made it impossible for Vivi to say no. She hadn’t seen Lewis like this in quite a while…at least not since they started dating almost two years ago.

“Okay, okay. Don’t give me your sad puppy eyes, Lew.” Her smile came back and she kissed him on the cheek. “Where are we going?”

Luckily Lewis had staked this place out long beforehand, looking for the perfect place. And he had found it. “Over here,” he replied with a soft smile, taking her hand and starting to lead her away from the squabble. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Arthur starting at them. He and the blonde made eye contact but before Lewis could say anything, Arthur grinned and waved them on, mouthing “good luck”.

Hopefully he wouldn’t need it.

—

“Oh wow Lew…” It wasn’t much but Lewis had found a pretty secluded spot behind the building where they graduated. They even had a perfect view of the setting sun and Lewis sighed in relief. At least the aesthetics were taken care of. Now if he could only work up the nerve… “So, what did you want to ask me?”

Here we go. He just had to go for it. No more mulling it over in his head, just say it! “Vivi…I know this might be a little sudden and everything…” He started while guiding her to a nearby bench. “But I’ve thought about this a lot and…well… I love you. Like more than anything, I love you.”

Vivi felt herself blush. They had told each other similar things in the past but Lewis had never been so…upfront about it. “I-I love you too, Lew… Gosh, where’s all this coming from?”

He was lucky Vivi was so clueless. Chuckling, Lewis took Vivi’s hand in his. “I have a point to this, I swear. I love you so much that I…w-well…” Lewis took a deep breath and placed something small into Vivi’s outstretched hand and closed her palm around it. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Vivi froze. Did he just…was Lewis asking what she thought he was? Slowly she uncurled her fingers to gaze upon a small class ring. “I know we’re just out of high school and everything…and w-we’ve got our whole loves ahead of us…” Goddammit, this was not coming out right. “But I’m not lying when I say I want to marry you, Vivi.”

There. It was out in the open now and all he had to do was wait for Vivi’s answer… Which was turning into one of the hardest things Lewis had ever done. She seemed startled into shock, putting a hand over her mouth as she continued to stare at the ring.

Had he gone too far? Or hell, had he said something wrong? Lewis couldn’t stop himself from placing a gentle hand on her cheek. “Vivi…?”

That seemed to snap her out of it and before Lewis knew it, he found himself enveloped in those (surprisingly) strong arms of her’s. “Yes! Of course I will! Yes yes yes!”

Blink. She agreed…just like that? “R-really?” And Lewis almost smacked himself. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. But the giggle that followed made it all worth it.

“Well yeah!” Lightly she bopped him atop that purple pompadour. “Did you think I’d say no? You dope.”

And now he felt foolish for ever doubting Arthur and himself. Smiling, he pulled Vivi into another hug and she returned it in full. “We might…not have it for a while. Finances and all that.”

“That’s okay!” Lewis was relieved when she didn’t seem bothered at all. “That only gives us more time to plan and make it perfect!” And before he could even catch his breath, Vivi had pulled him into a loving kiss.

At first he was surprised, unexpected, but quickly enough Lewis closed his eyes and brought her closer. The feeling of her lips on his, meshing together perfectly like a puzzle…he couldn’t get enough of it.

They pulled away far too quickly for his liking but gazed lovingly at each other. “Te quiero, Lewlew…”

She had even started to learn Spanish just for him. As if he needed more reasons to love her. “Yo también te quiero, Vivi.”

They shared another sweet kiss and Lewis slipped the ring onto her finger. When they pulled away he was dazed for a moment…before he snapped out of it once he saw the look on Vivi’s face.

She was smirking. “Wh-what?”

“You do know I want kids, right?”

To say Lewis’ face went red would be an understatement.

“I mean like, not now, but eventually.”

“U-uh…”

“Oooh! And you said you wouldn’t mind getting a ranch with a bunch of alpacas, right? We should do that too!”

“Vivi, I was kidding about that…”

Obviously she wasn’t listening anymore. The excitement of marriage had set her off. But as she rambled on and on, Lewis had to laugh. Maybe they could have some of those things. Right now, he was just happy being in her company.

—

Two years. Two long years since Lewis Pepper had been lost. Two years since they’d had to watch his friends and family lower his body into the ground. Vivi simply curled a bit in her seat, careful not to smother the lovely spray of red roses and baby’s breath she’d put together herself.

She’d lost the heart to lead the way she’d used to; to chase mysteries as she once had.

Today of all days, she just wanted to visit him one more time…

Watching trees pass the windows, she didn’t bother asking if they were close yet. She knew.

Beside her, her dog loyally held a pouch of seeds in his mouth. Wherever Lewis was, he hoped he’d get a kick out of their planting his favorite food on either side of his grave. Ghost peppers for the ghost of their past.

The entire van was deathly silent (no pun intended) not just from Vivi and Mystery, but from Arthur as well. He couldn’t even look Vivi in the eye. It was his fault that Lewis was gone; that Vivi was a miserable wreck. He had to admire her though. She kept a brave face on expertly most of the time, even going so far as to help pull himself out of the depression that had almost consumed him…

But sometimes she fell apart, just like him. The least he could do was drive her to where Lewis was buried. Arthur tried to put on his bravest face when she was like this…but he didn’t have one of those.

“We’re here…” he said, breaking the silence and parking the van. The sun had started to set already. Lewis loved sunsets. He always said they were the second most beautiful thing he had ever seen, the first being Vivi of course.

She nodded, sliding out of the van, Mystery trailing after. “Arffur, you got de grrden shvvvel, rrrght?” He managed, lagging behind to walk with him, letting Vivi take the lead. It was too hard to look at those lost, heartbroken eyes…

“Yeah, yeah, I got it…” the blonde mumbled back, slipping it into a small bag and slowly following after Vivi. He didn’t know how much longer he could take this. Seeing Vivi like that. Running away from his crime. She…she deserved to know.

And Arthur knew he didn’t deserve her friendship. He had caused all of this…

Her memory of the event was hazy, at best. The most Vivi could recall was splitting up, going down a corridor and coming into a room filled with stalagmites…and that was it. The next thing she knew, Mystery was barking, trying desperately to wake her up, and Arthur had gone into shock from somehow losing his arm.

It was a mess…everything was a mess…

The grave they were looking for was a ways in, Arthur trying not to think about how many dead bodies were buried here along with Lewis. At least he wasn’t alone…

The dog issued a soft whine, nudging his nose under the man’s flesh hand as they followed. Finally, Vivi was the first to kneel…well… more like fall to her knees before the tombstone formed of stones, each one placed by one of his loved ones. One dotted with bits of his birthstone at the base had been placed by her. She sniffled quietly, gently placing the roses over where she knew his head lay down below.

The dog moved up beside her, looking back at Arthur hopefully. He knew Vivi wouldn’t talk, saying how much she missed him, until she was alone. It was how their grave visits always went… So they may as well plant the seeds…right?

Arthur himself remained silent but began the planting process anyway. He left Vivi alone. Maybe after this time…he could finally tell her. Tell her what really happened. Somehow he had to find the strength.

He dug a few small holes for the peppers to be planted and Arthur silently hoped that anybody who walked by wouldn’t touch them. If they did, well, that was their punishment for desecrating a grave anyway. Once finished, Arthur took the small bag of seeds from Mystery.

The dog nodded and sat beside Vivi for now. As he had after the grave had been filled after the funeral, Mystery lifted his nose, issuing a sorrowful howl. The girl smiled weakly, giving the dog a one-armed hug. “I know buddy… We all miss him…”

It had been her first words all day. Watching Arthur bury the seeds, she reached for him, knowing he’d leave her alone to talk but still wanting one more hug of comfort. She needed her friends now more than ever.

He had just been about to walk away but paused when he felt Vivi’s hand on his only flesh arm. She was seeking comfort.

_Don’t do it. You don’t deserve to comfort her. You’ll just make things worse._

Arthur knew that malicious little voice in the back of his head, his own voice, was correct. He wanted to hug her but he held back. Instead, he put his robotic hand over her’s. “Vivi…” he started, trying to hold himself together. “There’s…there’s something I gotta tell you when we’re done here.” A pause. “It’s about Lewis…and it’s something you should know.”

_Enjoy her company while you can._

“But th-that can wait ‘till after you’re done here. Okay?” Before she had a chance to protest, Arthur stood up and began walking back to the van, hands shoved into his pockets. He never spoke to Lewis at his grave…at least not when anybody was around.

Vivi seemed to wilt, a little disappointment in her eyes as Mystery gave her an apologetic look before following. Once they were out of sight, she simply slumped at the grave, issuing a soft sob as she pressed her hands into the grass, wishing for what could be the millionth time that she was down there sleeping in his arms.

"H-hey Lew…" she murmured. "… Two years sure is a long time… Th-there was a meteor shower the other night… R-remember our third date? The one where you took me t-to see Twister at the drive-in? And there was a meteor shower halfway through the movie? …It reminded me of that night…" She managed a tremulous smile.

"…The high school reunion is coming up too… You think Fred Jones is still trying to rock an ascot?" She laughed softly. "I tell ya. You were the only one who could…"

The tears began flowing faster and her smile shook. Eventually, she simply curled up on the ground before the grave, weeping and pleading. “I miss you, Lewlew… I miss you so much… W-Weren’t we supposed to get married? Have a b-bunch of little kids and live on an alp-paca farm for the rest of our lives? P-please….” She sobbed weakly as the sun set lower and lower.

"Please come back to me, Lewis…"


	4. Dropped in from Above

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Peppers find a mysterious boy at their doorstep...

Everything was cold…

_**“It’s too strong!”** _

His entire body felt numb. He didn’t even feel the rain pelting his skin anymore.

**_“Quick, get him to safety!”_ **

But his mind was so foggy. He didn’t know where he was going. He had to keep moving, but why?

**_“I can’t–I can’t leave you here!”_ **

He couldn’t even run anymore. It was so hard to move. But he had to keep going.

**_“Take our son and go. I’ll catch up with you later, I promise.”_ **

Up ahead, he could see the blurry outline of a building. There was a sign on it but he couldn’t read what it said.

**_“Oh god it–it caught up!”_ **

**_“Mom…?”_ **

The ground was suddenly pressed against his face. When had his legs given out on him?

**_“What did you do to him?!”_ **

So cold…

**_“It won’t stop…”_ **

“Oh my g–HONEY! Quick, get over here!”

**_“Lewis RUN!”_ **

The last thing he saw before everything went dark was a flash of green…

—

And then it was suddenly warm.

Slowly he opened his eyes. It took a minute but things were starting to come into focus. The room around him was entirely unfamiliar. Everything looked so white and blinding. And it smelled like medicine. As he sat up, he only became more confused. His arm was attached to a few machines beside him.

His whole body ached. His head was pounding. But at least that meant he wasn’t numb anymore.

He froze when he felt another pair of eyes on him. In the corner, there sat a little girl with light pink eyes staring, amazed. She couldn’t be older than two or three. Was there something on his face…?

As soon as he made a move to speak, the little girl bolted out the open door. “He’s up!” Came a shrill voice. “Mama, Papa, he’s up!”

Seconds later another two unfamiliar faces peered into the room, a man and a woman. They looked relieved. “Oh thank goodness…” The woman walked over and brushed a few strands of his purple hair out of his face. He didn’t flinch away. Her touch was gentle and warm and…safe.

The man sat down next to him as well. “We were all worried. You gave us a little scare there.”

“What’s your name, dear?”

He didn’t answer. In fact, the boy looked slightly panicked.

The two of them smiled gently at him, and as they introduced themselves and their three two-year-old daughters. Perhaps if they did it first, he would feel more comfortable about telling them his name. The boy felt himself relaxing. Already he liked these people. They were kind to him, to a complete stranger…

But still he did not speak. It dawned on the Peppers that perhaps this child was incapable of speaking. They decided to try again, just in case. “Where are your parents?” Mr. Pepper asked, finding it rather appalling that this child had been left alone in the state they found him in. Half starved, half dead…who would leave their child in such a state?!

Maybe he was a runaway…?

But at his silence, the Peppers grew a little nervous. The poor boy seemed to think about it for a moment and then suddenly looked horrified. “I…I don’t…”

He spoke! The Peppers leaned forward in anticipation. “You don’t…?”

He stared into his lap. “I d-don’t…remember…” Almost everything in his life was a complete blur. Parents, family, even his name…he knew nothing. Everything was blank. “Why can’t I…?” What could he do? Where could he go? He felt tears welling in his eyes. He was so scared…

A hand found its way onto his shoulder and Mrs. Pepper offered Lewis a gentle smile. “Don’t you worry. You’ll find them.” She wiped away some stray tears. “And we’ll do everything we can to help you.”

The boy sniffed and leaned into the gentle touch. He needed any kind of comfort. “R-really…?”

Mr. Pepper nodded, watching as their three girls peeked their heads up over the bed to look this new face over. “Really. We promise.”

He didn’t know what to say. He had only just woken up and already people were taking care of him. What could he even say? How could someone with no memories possibly find his previous life? How could someone with no memories ever make it up to them?

Wait, no…that wasn’t true.

“Le…”

**_“LEWIS RUN!”_ **

His head was throbbing, like someone had taken a jackhammer to it. All he could see was green. Why green? What did that mean? Who was screaming in his ears?! The pulse meter sped up greatly and a nurse came rushing in a few seconds later to see what the noise was about. She would see three tiny girls trying to comfort the boy on the bed. “Did something happen?”

The Peppers looked at each other, unsure. But the triplets knew what to do. Their parents would always do this for them when they were scared. Hugs, back rubs, humming a soothing melody, they were incredibly smart for their age. The boy calmed down in no time and finally spoke up.

“L…Lewis. That’s my name.”

—

Days turned into weeks and there was still no sign of this strange boy’s family. They tried everything, going to the police, missing children reports… The triplets even wanted to make posters.

The police had deduced Lewis couldn’t be any older than twelve. Mulberry colored hair with matching eyes, and he was pretty tall for his age as well. He was someone you couldn’t miss in a crowd. His family would know immediately if they saw him.

But nothing ever came back. It was as if his parents had vanished; as if his whole family had vanished. Nobody was looking for a boy named Lewis, and with no last name to go with, they couldn’t do a thorough search.

With nowhere else to go, Lewis was released into the care of the Pepper family (by request) after the hospital allowed him to leave, and within a few days he was up and walking. The sign he saw before was a sign for a restaurant, Pepper Paradiso, that specialized in sweet and spicy foods. Lewis wasn’t exactly sure what that meant but he was more than willing to learn.

He had decided. For as long as he stayed here, he would help these kind people. Even when Mister and Missus Pepper were hesitant, Lewis insisted. He would do anything; needed to do something. It would drive him crazy if he didn’t.

Dishwashing was perhaps the safest job they could give to an eleven-year-old, and even then the Peppers weren’t completely comfortable with it. But Lewis just looked so happy to finally being able to help in some way. He never complained. They couldn’t take that away from him.

Late night talks only confirmed to the Peppers that nobody was coming for the poor boy. He had either been abandoned or something had happened to his family. With the state Lewis was in when they found him, either option seemed equally likely.

They decided. They couldn’t let this poor child into an adoption home. In fact their girls had already taken to calling Lewis their big brother. It only seemed natural to adopt him…and Lewis was more than overjoyed.

They sent him to school. He made wonderful friends and even found someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

He had a family. He had people who cared for him. He would dedicate his life to these people.

He never imagined that, a mere ten years later, his life would end.

And a broken family was soon to follow.

—

Something felt off as soon as he stepped foot into the cave. A strange sense of déjà vu? Lewis couldn’t place it but it almost felt like he had been here before.

But that was impossible…wasn’t it?

_**Welcome back~** _

He froze for a split second, causing the blonde trailing behind him to crash into his back. “Shit –Lew? You okay?”

“…Yeah. I’m alright, Arthur. Just a chill, that’s all.”

“Ugh, tell me about it…”

No, he just imagined that. It was nothing.

He wished he had listened to his instinct.

Everything happened so fast. One second he was looking over the edge of a very steep cliff, wincing at the sharp stalagmites below. The next second he heard a noise, one that almost sounded like a plea for help. He turned to face the one behind him.

And then the next, he was falling. Panic. Terror. Disbelief. Arthur couldn’t have, no, not Arthur!

Suddenly he wasn’t falling anymore. The seconds started to drag. Something was wrong. He felt odd, his body was so heavy.

And…he was pretty sure…his chest wasn’t…supposed to have that…sticking out of it…

Arthur. Arthur pushed him. Arthur _killed him._

_Why?_

His head flopped to the side, completely limp.

_Vivi?_

The girl of his dreams, the one he loved more than anything, the one he wanted to marry. She looked terrified and Lewis realized with horror at what she was witnessing.

_Vivi no…!_

She sank to her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks and she screamed.

_“I don’t…want you…to see…!”_

—

The only words that could describe it were “chain reaction”. Everything happened so fast.

Possession.

Murder.

Dismemberment.

Heartbreak.

Nobody was certain what had truly happened that day, not even the one who caused it all.

Damned fox. Because of _him…!_

It had finally gotten rid of the last of the line. How perfect its plan had been! And the host was just so easy to possess; to feed off his jealousy was delicious. It only made it stronger.

And then the kitsune stepped in. As soon as the possessed arm was ripped from its host’s body, it felt its power drained away. Sapped straight from the source.

But where had it gone? Power like that didn’t just vanish. It needed a host as well. But the spirit did not get its answer. It was trapped and tossed aside, skittering off.

Meanwhile, Lewis made sure Vivi did not see this. See the bloody mess he had become. How? He didn’t know. Suddenly he had power, despite how weakened and drained he felt. And he was going to use it to make her forget all of this.

_I’m sorry…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo yeah...those were my thoughts as to what happened to put Lewis into the care of the Peppers. I like involving the Green Spirit in everyone's lives. Of course if Ben even releases Lewis' actual history, then this'll probably be null and void. But these are my thoughts until then :3


	5. Anniversary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur and Lewis have just become friends. It's time to learn more about each other.

Arthur wasn’t in school today.

It wasn’t exactly a common occurrence. Despite not liking school all that much, Lewis never knew his friend to skip out. He didn’t remember Arthur telling him he wouldn’t be there, so he must be ill. Lewis frowned at this realization.

He hadn’t known Arthur very long. A few months at most, but that was only because that was when the school year started. They had gone to different grade schools and it didn’t take long for Lewis to see a pattern in the blonde. He always sat alone, always did things alone. Even in group projects, Arthur preferred to do it alone. What kind of person lived like that?

So Lewis stepped in. One request to sit with him at lunch later and the young man quickly realized why Arthur was always alone. He was a year younger than anyone in their grade; Arthur had completely skipped the sixth grade. It had taken a few days but finally Arthur seemed to open up to Lewis. A few months went by and they were suddenly the best of friends.

This was the first time Arthur had gotten sick since he’d known him. The blonde had mentioned he didn’t get sick very often but it was always bad when he did. What a bummer… Lewis hoped his mamá would allow him to see his friend after school.

—

The first thing Lewis had to do after school was pick up his sisters. All of them were in the third grade, and luckily the grade school and middle school got out around the same time. As soon as his sisters saw him, they divebombed him. Luckily Lewis didn’t mind and the struggle back home was worth it in his eyes. He loved his little sisters to pieces. Everyone in his new home had been so welcoming and he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

All four of them were welcomed home once they entered the Paradiso. His sisters ran off to play but Lewis held back, making his adoptive father look curiously at him. “Lewis? Is something wrong?”

“Oh, er, no.” Lewis shuffled his feet nervously. Normally he was supposed to babysit after school, but now he had plans. “It’s just…Arthur wasn’t at school today.”

“He wasn’t?” The Peppers were rather fond of Arthur too. He was Lewis’ friend after all, even if the poor kid was nervous coming here. Mrs. Pepper was rather intimidating at first…

“Yeah. I think he’s sick.” He shifted his bag. “Could I, um, go see him? I’ll come back as soon as I can. I just wanna see if he’s alright.”

Smiling, Mr. Pepper ruffled his son’s hair. He was getting so tall that soon he would actually have to reach up to do that! “Of course you can. In fact…” Mr. Pepper stood up and rummaged through a few cabinets before pressing a few tea bags into Lewis’ hand. “Make sure he drinks this and he’ll feel better in no time."

Chamomile tea. Lewis grinned and nodded at his father, giving him a hug. “Thanks Papà!” He said cheerfully before rushing out the door.

Kingsmen Mechanics wasn’t a far walk. A few blocks and Lewis found himself suddenly nervous to go inside. The shop was open but something was off. What had come over him?

Nevertheless Lewis pushed through the front door, a little bell chiming his arrival. Arthur home was actually attached to the shop, near the back. The lady who usually worked at the front desk, Constance, smiled at his arrival. “Oh Lewis! Are you here to see Arthur?”

Lewis nodded. “Yes. My dad sent me here with tea and everything. Can I go see him?”

“Please do. The poor boy could use some company. Lord knows Lance is horrible at comforting people.” Constance rolled her eyes. She respected her boss greatly but she knew the man did not do the feelings thing.

But she only seemed to confuse Lewis and his protectiveness flared up. “Comfort? He’s not sick?”

There was a beat of silence…and Constance’s face fell. “Oh…you don’t know. What today is.”

“Today…?”

Sighing, Constance peered towards the back of the garage where she knew Lance and Arthur would be. “Maybe I shouldn’t say… It’s not really my place to.” But she put a gentle hand on Lewis’ shoulder. “Go see him though. He needs some friendly company.” She ushered the boy to the back door and Lewis hesitated only a fraction of a second before going inside.

The door went straight into a small hallway and the hallway led straight into the living room. There was nobody here and Lewis quickly made his way upstairs. “Hello?” He called out.

No answer. Lewis went further and saw that Arthur’s bedroom door was open. Inside he saw Arthur sitting on the floor, curled up, and his uncle next to him with an arm around his shoulders. Even Lance looked forlorn. Lewis’ heart broke at the scene. What in the world happened? “Artie…?”

Immediately Lance turned his head towards the door in shock, but relaxed when he saw who it was. He respected the kid a lot. “Hey Lewis…” And the purple haired boy was stunned. Lance was always so loud and kind of intimidating too. He never expected to hear him sound so soft. He watched as the older man pat Arthur on the shoulder. “Art, Lewis is here. Come on, get up and say hi.”

Arthur didn’t move, which only broke Lewis’ heart even more. If Arthur was sick then it wasn’t the kind of sickness Lewis had in mind. He looked sadly towards Arthur’s uncle. “What’s wrong…?”

“Ah, well…” For once the older man seemed nervous. And those eyes were incredibly sad. “Today’s the anniversary my brother and…Arthur’s parents, I mean…left us.”

…Oh.

When Lewis had asked one day why the blonde lived with his uncle, Arthur had just answered that his parents were somewhere else and refused to say anymore. Now Lewis knew why. He felt awful. Not only because his friend had something horrible like that happen to him…but also because Arthur hadn’t told him. Arthur still didn’t trust him.

Then again, who was he to talk?

He threw a questioning glance to Lance and the man just smiled and stood up. Best to leave the two kids alone. Once he was gone, Lewis took his place next to Arthur, though he didn’t touch him. “…I’m sorry.”

There was a beat of silence before Arthur finally spoke up. “Why…?”

“Because…” Lewis replied with a sad smile. “I didn’t know.”

He watched as Arthur looked up, his eyes red and puffy from a full day of nothing but crying. The dry tearstains on his cheeks made Lewis’ heart twist. He had seen Arthur bruised from bullying, sad from loneliness…but never like this before. “W-well no…I d-didn’t say anything…”

“Is it okay for me to know?”

Sniffle. “Not m-much…I can do about it now… Sorry I didn’t tell you…”

“Don’t be. I understand.” More than Arthur knew. Now Lewis felt comfortable enough to place a hand on his friend’s back. “Can I…ask how…?”

It was quite a while before Arthur answered again. “…C-car accident…” he replied softly while trying to hold back the waterworks. “I was…was sick that day and…they went off to get medicine for me and…” But he couldn’t hold it back any longer and Arthur dissolved into a fit of tears. “N-never came back…”

—

It took a good fifteen minutes for Arthur to calm down. During that time, Lance came back up to inform Lewis his parents were on the phone and wondering if he was alright. He apologized to them and said he was probably going to be a while. Arthur needed him.

When Arthur had finally stopped sobbing, reduced to tiny sniffles, Lewis hoped it was okay for him to speak again. “I’m sorry, Artie…” he said again, tightening his one armed hold on his friend. He didn’t know what else he could say.

“I miss them…” the blonde whimpered. “It’s a-already been two y-years but…I just…I miss them so m-much… They w-were all I had…”

Lewis tensed. Even now Arthur felt like he was alone. Friends just felt like a foreign concept to him, like there was some sort of _obligation_ that came with being his friend. That he was baggage. But that just wasn’t true… And when Lewis realized he had been quiet for far too long, he gave Arthur a small smile.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

Startled, Arthur turned his watery gaze towards his only friend. “What…now?” He watched as Lewis nodded. “Uh…s-sure.”

Lewis took a deep breath and he suddenly found the floor of Arthur’s room extremely fascinating. “My parents…the Peppers, I mean… They aren’t my birth parents.”

It was something Arthur had never even considered. The Peppers were just the ideal perfect family; all of them fit together like a puzzle and not once could anyone thing that one person didn’t belong. It was a large family but nobody was left out. Everyone adored Lewis. “…What…?” So hearing something like that was…unreal.

“Yeah,” Lewis replied, still keeping his gaze on the floor. “They said they found me on their doorstep. I was hurt pretty badly and I didn’t remember anything, not even my name. Still don’t. They tried everything to find out where I was from. Y’know, missing children reports, the police…but they didn’t find anything. So they took me in, gave me a name, and now I’m a part of their family.” He paused. “That was…a little over a year ago, I think.”

Arthur didn’t know what to say. Lewis was always so upbeat and friendly that the idea of something horrible happening to him made the blonde sick. “Sometimes I wonder what happened to my birth parents,” Lewis continued. “But then I kinda think…maybe I’m not supposed to know. I mean I have a wonderful family now. I’m not alone; I have people that care about me. How could I ask for anything else?”

Those lavender eyes made their way back to Arthur. “It’s the same as you, Artie… You have your uncle. You have everyone here at the shop.” There was no getting around it. Lewis had seen the way the people in Kingsmen Mechanics treated Arthur. They loved him as if he was the most precious child in the world. “You have me too…”

Arthur felt his heart skip a beat. “Lew…” Before the blonde knew it, he was pulled into a tight hug. He began to tremble and felt the tears start to come back. But these were different… He felt himself return the hug and sob into Lewis’ shoulder.

“You’re not alone, Artie. So many people love you and want to help. We’re all there for you…”

And just like that, Arthur felt lighter. The tightness in his chest had vanished. “Th…thank you…”


	6. What if You Forgot?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: The prompt was OT3, with Arthur suffering from amnesia (either from a head wound on a case, a spell, or an entity or something) and Lewis and Vivi telling him stories of their past and adventures to try and job his memory.

Lewis had decided that if there was anything worse than dying, it was losing a precious memory.

He had lost precious memories of Arthur, growing up with him, the blonde practically becoming part of his family. He had almost completely destroyed them in favor of a false sense of peace. Vivi had lost memories of Lewis, namely his death. 

The difference was that the two of them had only lost certain memories and they had gained them back. Lewis had hoped he never had to deal with it again. But fate was never so kind to them.

It started out like any other job. An abandoned library this time, but instead of retaining information, the stories all said that people would forget. In retrospect, it was almost ironic.

They hadn’t been prepared for the spirit. The gang had split into two groups and this time Arthur had gone with Vivi while faintly muttering to himself that at least there weren’t any cliffs in this place. That promptly earned him a smack from Vivi.

It only took him looking away for a second but soon enough Arthur had lost Vivi. The girl never did know how to slow down. “Shit…” Couldn’t she wait for him just one time?

Arthur suddenly felt a chill. “Guys?” It wasn’t Lewis. Lewis wasn’t cold, he was extremely warm and smelled like peppers.

_“Give…them…”_

Double shit. The voice was coming from all around; there was no way to pinpoint it. “Uh…g-give what?”

_“Can’t…remember…n-need **more…”**_

–

By the time Vivi realized she had left Arthur behind, she wanted to smack herself. How could she have done that? She wasn’t thinking! Quickly she doubled back to where she was pretty sure she lost her boyfriend.

He was there, right where she thought he was…but something felt off. He was just standing there, unmoving. Nervously she approached him. “Hey…sorry about that. I thought I saw something and you know me, I go off without really thinking about it…”

No answer. Not even a twitch. “Arthur?”

All she did was gently touch his shoulder but it was enough to have the blonde crumple to the ground. Vivi let out a surprised shriek and was immediately by his side. “Arthur! What happened?!” His eyes were wide open and those amber irises she loved so much had paled to the point they were almost white.

But his expression was lifeless. He looked awake but nobody was home. Vivi shook him a few times and desperately calling out his name. It didn’t take long for the other half of their group to come looking.

“What’s going on?” Lewis exclaimed; his human guise abandoned in a panic.

“I-I don’t know! I ran ahead of him a little and when I found him again, he was…he was just standing there…”

The way Arthur’s eyes looked made Lewis nervous. He couldn’t help but think he had seen that exact same expression before…but where?

“We’re leaving. We’ll come back later but we’ve got to make sure he’s okay first.” Vivi nodded without hesitation and watched as Lewis picked up their boyfriend, manually closed his eyes, and bolted to the exit. The ghost still couldn’t shake this horrible feeling.

–

Whether he listened to his instincts or not wouldn’t have mattered. Once back in their hotel room, Vivi had removed Arthur’s robotic arm so he could sleep off whatever had been done to him peacefully. The first thing Arthur saw when he came to were two faces looking down at him. One human and one…

“Arthur?”

Again there was no answer but the blank expression from before had vanished. But Lewis wasn’t sure what was worse. There wasn’t any recognition in Arthur’s now pale eyes. In fact, if Lewis didn’t know any better, he could swear that Arthur looked-

**“AAAAAHHHH!!”**

…Terrified.

“SKELETON! _GHOST?!_ WHAT THE-?!” The blonde scrambled out of Lewis’ arms and promptly fell off the bed. “OW!”

“Arthur, calm down!” Vivi’s hands may have been tiny but they were firm as they grabbed onto the mechanic’s shoulders and held him steady. “What’s wrong with you? It’s just Lewis!”

“Are you crazy?! That’s a skeleton!” Arthur yanked himself away from Vivi’s grip. “L-listen, I don’t know who the hell you people are, but I swear I don’t-!”

“What did you just say?”

Arthur paused. These people didn’t look ready to hurt him (or at least the girl didn’t, it was sort of hard to tell with the floating skeleton head). In fact, they looked hurt themselves. “I…said I don’t know who you are but I don’t have anything worth stealing?”

Silence. “Arthur…” Vivi spoke up this time. “What are talking about...?”

Lewis quickly changed his appearance to his living form and gestured to himself and Vivi. “You don’t recognize us?”

“N…no…? Should I?” Okay, that form was a little better, but those eyes were really creeping him out. “Uh…n-nice trick there, buddy…”

Now Lewis understood why the look Arthur had before seemed so familiar to him. Back in the cave…Vivi had the same look when he erased her memories.

But it hadn’t been to this extent. He had only erased one thing; his death. She still remembered Arthur, Mystery, even himself…

So that begged the question: What did Arthur remember?

Vivi seemed to be thinking the same thing. “Yes, you should… Do you remember anything?”

“…” That seemed to set off a few bells in Arthur’s mind. “A…actually…” His flesh hand made it to his temples. He’d meant to raise both arms but one look at his stump of a left arm had him pale. “Wh-where’s my arm?!”

–

After they managed to calm him down, Vivi decided the easiest way to figure this out was a good old fashioned game of twenty questions.

“Okay, so do you remember your name?”

“Arthur Kingsmen.”

“Right! And do you remember what you do for a living?”

“I’m a mechanic.”

“Right again!”

Lewis sighed. Baby steps first, he supposed… But as riveting as this was, he’d rather hurry up and get to the root of the problem. Vivi had told him to wait in another room so he didn’t startle their boyfriend any more than he already was.

“It seems like he remembers everything…except us,” Lewis mumbled to the not!dog next to him. “He didn’t even remember you could talk.”

“…”

“…Mystery?” Did he refuse to speak now because of what Arthur said? This was getting more annoying by the second.

A few minutes later, Vivi walked out looking for forlorn than Lewis had ever seen her. Apparently, besides his name, Arthur also remembered working at Kingsmen Mechanics and sort of remembered his uncle as well. But when it came to anything about the paranormal, their gang, their friendship, and even their growing feelings for each other…nothing.

Vivi had decided they should try to jog his memory. As long as Lewis was in human guise, Arthur seemed to be fine. “Do you remember introducing us to the van? You were so excited. Said your uncle had given it to you to fix and do what you want with it. We all fixed it up and now we travel around the country with it.”

“And remember our first job? It was in one of those stereotypical warehouses. You always wondered why all the hauntings were in warehouses. But the whole thing turned out to be a hoax. Just a guy in a mask.”

There was still no recognition in Arthur’s eyes, though he seemed extremely amused. Again Lewis and Vivi were stunned by that look in his eyes. Something was different about Arthur. The memory loss was obvious but it was something else… “A guy in a mask, huh? That’s cliché.”

“Y-yeah…” Vivi swallowed. “And…and remember the Mystery Inc.? We’ve always had a huge rivalry with them. Of course there was that one time we had to work together at that weird…theme park. Was that it, Lew?”

He nodded. “I think that was the first time we actually saw a real ghost before. All of us.” Arthur almost winced at the dry chuckle that echoed from the magenta ghost. He’d almost forgotten the guy was dead until he heard that echo. “And it had friends. We all had to work together to get rid of them.”

“And after that, our two groups vowed to never work with each other again.”

“Yeah…”

They both stared at Arthur, who was trying his hardest not to laugh. “Any of this ringing any bells…?”

It was disappointing but the blonde shook his head once the laughter had died down. “Sorry…” He replied with a shrug. “To be honest, I didn’t even believe in ghosts until I saw this big guy.” Arthur gestured to Lewis. “How did you die anyway? If it’s okay to ask.”

If Lewis still had to breathe, it would have caught in his throat. That was the one question Lewis didn’t want Arthur to ask.

Realization hit Lewis like a ton of bricks. Why Arthur seemed different. He wasn’t scared. Perhaps he was at first but once he warmed up to Lewis he seemed to be okay. He didn’t have that permanent sad look in his eyes. He was peacefully oblivious to what had happened two years before…

This was Arthur before the accident. Before the guilt had nearly overtaken him. He was **happy**. The golden locket inside his vest sagged and turned a pale blue.

“I-I…don’t remember…”

–

“Why did you lie, Lewis?” Vivi demanded after Arthur had fallen asleep. Lewis gently stroked the mechanic’s hair. He looked so peaceful…the most peaceful he had seen him in years.

It was a few moments before Lewis found the courage to answer. “I couldn’t tell him… Vivi, he doesn’t remember what happened. Being possessed…or killing me.”

Finally he looked up to the bluenette, and Vivi was shocked to see those hollowed eyes stinging with tears. “This is the most happy I’ve seen him in ages. I can’t ruin that. I…I can’t.”

Click. “Y-you mean…”

A nod.

The silence was overwhelming. It was only broken when Mystery lifted his head and finally spoke up. “The ghost in the library… I’ve figured out what she did. She was a spirit who had lost the memories of her true love. According to folklore, it was her most priceless memories of all. It seems like…she takes away the memories of others in the vain hope she can regain her’s.”

Vivi quirked an eyebrow. “But why was she so specific? Arthur can remember things about himself and a few things about his family… So why can’t he remember us?” Her question made Mystery’s ears lower.

“…Because she only takes away a person’s most precious memories. Just like those of her lover were her most treasured, any memories of us were most precious to him…”

It was beginning to make sense. “And…the reason he can remember things about himself…” Lewis started as he turned back to Arthur.

“…Is because he doesn’t consider any memories with him precious. Yes…”

Vivi felt her heart break a little. It was true. Arthur never considered himself a valuable part of the team… And after Lewis’ death, it only got worse. “Do you…do you think…he should stay like this?”

Canine ears perked up but Lewis didn’t move. “Vivi?”

“I mean…Lewis is right. He’s so much happier this way…”

They didn’t know. There was a difference between what they wanted and what the right thing to do was. The only problem was deciding which one was which.

None of them spoke for the rest of the night.


	7. A Moment Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a LewVi week on Tumblr and this was what I wrote for it.

“Excuse you, who said you could be the big spoon?”

The man in purple grinned, reaching over to pinch a section of Vivi’s sweater on her arm, waggling it around a little. “Your arms are too tiny. They can’t wrap around me.”

“Says you!” Vivi promptly spun around in Lewis’ lap and wrapped both her arms around her boyfriend to prove him wrong. It didn’t work out so well; her hands only reached halfway towards his back.

“See? Told you.”

“Shut your face.”

“My handsome face.”

“Your stupid, dopey, sexy, handsome face, yes.” Vivi buried her own face into Lewis’ chest with a giggle and Lewis couldn’t help one of his own. “It’s not fair. Arthur can hug you just fine and his arms are tiny too.”

“Scrawny,” Lewis corrected. “His arms are very scrawny but they’re long. That’s why.”

He received a raspberry as a response. Vivi could be so childish at times. “Well _excuuuuuuuuse me,_ princess.” And her face was right back into Lewis’ chest. She felt strong arms around her and sighed in contentment, feeling that large chest tremble in a chuckle.

They sat in silence for a while, just holding each other and enjoying their company. The beating of Lewis’ gentle heart was almost lulling her to sleep. “I like this,” Vivi finally spoke up again.

“Hm?”

“This. Being with you like this.”

“You mean being a couple?”

“Yeah.” Mulberry eyes were suddenly met with gorgeous cyan and Lewis was lost in them for a moment. “I thought it would be kind of weird at first. Y’know, dating one of my best friends. I was…kind of afraid things would be awkward or too different or something.”

She felt that chest rumble again. It was soothing in a way. “Why do you think it took me so long to ask you out? I was nervous you’d say no and our friendship would be out the window. Arthur convinced me otherwise.”

“Arthur did?” Vivi smiled. In the three years she had known the blonde, she never pictured him the type to play cupid. “I didn’t know he was such a matchmaker!”

“You should’ve seen him. He was really pushing me to ask you out.”

“Pushing _you?_ Our Arthur? Him and his _scrawny arms?”_

She received a flick to her cute little nose, something Lewis had lovingly started doing to his sisters when they got smart with him. Her squeak was adorable. “Yeah,” he continued. “Said you and me needed to stop dancing around each other and just kiss already.”

The blue beauty let out a full blown laugh. Now that was fun to picture. She could just see and hear the pep talks in her mind. “Well I guess I’ll have to thank him then.”

There was a pause, and then without warning Vivi scooched a little closer to her boyfriend, siting up on her knees so that the two of them were eye-to-eye. “Vivi?” But before Lewis could question further, she grabbed a hold of his ascot to pull him into a deep kiss; one that Lewis was frozen in place for a full five seconds before he finally willed himself to respond.

He felt like he’d never get tired of this. Their first kiss had been amazing and each subsequent one didn’t deter the feeling in the slightest. When Vivi finally pulled away, Lewis felt dazed, and probably looked it too if the smile on her face was anything to go by. “Did I just blow your mind with my awesome skills?”

Well that snapped him out of it. “Yes,” he replied with a smile of his own. “Completely.”

“And I bet you wanna do more, huh?” The question caught Lewis off guard, especially with the way she was leering at him.

Was she serious? “Vivi, we’ve only been dating a month.” Lewis would later be proud of the way he held himself together when she was looking at him like that.

But she laughed and Lewis felt himself relax. Okay, so she was joking. Probably.

“You should have seen the look on your face!”

Most likely.

“You are _such_ a brat.”

Another raspberry. “But you love me anyway!”

“True.” Lewis gave her another kiss, this one a small peck on the forehead, before settling back into their embrace. Luckily Vivi was feeling compliant for now.

She was perfect. Everything he could have ever wanted and more. He owed Arthur big for this.


	8. Time After Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Prompt: "Could you do a LewviThur with stress smoker arthur? Like, maybe they have a fight and Arthur disapears, and they eventually get nervous and paniced bc "oh god our bfs been gone for too long where is he" and they look everywhere, LEWIS finally finding him only to see 2 packs empty, making his way through a third- and Lewis can still se the tears on his cheeks. .7."
> 
> Given by obsessive-enthusiast on Tumblr. Thanks a bunch :)

Lewis could count the number of times he had seen Arthur angry on one hand.

He remembered Arthur telling him when he was alive that their over six foot friend was terrifying when angry. Back then Lewis next to never got angry either. And while he had mellowed out considerably since his time of death, both Arthur and Vivi had noticed he still had a bit of a fiery temper now.

Lewis could agree that he didn’t get angry very much while alive. Arthur, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have a mad bone in his body.

He’d known the guy since they were twelve years old and he could only recall Arthur getting angry, legitimately angry, maybe once or twice. Arthur just wasn’t the type. Annoyed? Yes. Scared? More often than not. Happy? Not as much as he used to be but it was still in there somewhere. Lewis was still baffled at himself for ever thinking Arthur could be angry enough to purposely push him off a cliff.

In retrospect, seeing him mad was actually pretty disturbing. 

“Did you seriously fall asleep on your workbench again?”

“…Maybe.”

“Arthur, I swear to god, you’re going to kill yourself if this keeps up.”

Said mechanic rolled his eyes at the girl in blue. “Don’t be so dramatic. I’m used to it.”

“Correction,” Lewis grumbled while crossing his arms. “You’re used to working yourself too hard and passing out. That’s not healthy, Arthur.”

Okay, so maybe he did do that a few times…a lot…but it still wasn’t anything to nag him over. Or at least Arthur didn’t think so. “What are you, my mom? I’m fine.” He turned back to his project (that he had fallen asleep on) and ignored the groan that Vivi gave him.

“You do know that we have an important case tonight, right? I swear if you start complaining you’re tired, we’re leaving you behind.”

It wasn’t meant to be anything other than a joke. But the second Arthur froze from Vivi’s words, Lewis knew that line had struck a nerve. Whether it was from the lack of sleep or the insecurities the ghost was certain were still in his friend’s mind was left undetermined…at least for now. “Leave m– Vivi, are you serious?”

The blue girl paused. She hadn’t meant for Arthur to take that so personally. “What do you think? Come on Artie, you should know-”

Something inside of Arthur snapped and his already frail walls came crumpling down. It didn’t take much. “It’s because I’m useless, isn’t it?”

Silence. Lewis and Vivi were too shocked to answer. Arthur couldn’t really think that, could he?

“I knew it.” The hurt in his expression was hardly masked. Arthur turned and began to walk away, determined to hide the tears threatening to spill out, but Vivi and Lewis were right on his heels.

“Arthur wait! You’ve got it all wrong! That’s not what I meant!”

He wasn’t having any of it. “Bullshit,” he huffed out. “Forget it. I didn’t want to go to that stupid hospital anyway.”

“Come on, you can’t mean that…”

“And what the hell do you know?!” Arthur turned around again, eyes furious. Just the anger alone was enough to make Vivi pause. She had never seen such a look in her best friend’s eyes before. “It’s always what you want to do, isn’t it? I swear the word “no” isn’t in your goddamn vocabulary. Haunted mansion this, haunted library that. And even when nobody else thinks it’s a good idea, you just go on ahead anyway and force us to come too. Do you ever think about anyone but yourself, Vivi?”

That set Lewis off. “Stop right there,” he warned, clenching his fists tightly. “You know damn well that’s not true, Arthur.”

Arthur gritted his teeth. “Of course you’d take her side!” His anger was directed at the ghost now. “You always take her side!”

“I’m not taking sides. You’re being unreasonable.” Lewis, Vivi noted, was eerily calm. She wasn’t sure what was more terrifying, an angry Arthur or a calm Lewis when he should be angry.

“I am not being unreasonable! You two are always taking each other’s sides! Why the hell am I even here?! If you guys didn’t want me to travel with you, all you had to fucking do was say so!”

With that, Arthur walked out the door and slammed it shut. Vivi had immediately noticed the tears start to fall down the blonde’s cheeks. But when she went to chase after him, Lewis put a hand on her shoulder. “Let him go,” he said, expression unreadable. It didn’t help that normally in skeletal form Lewis was hard to read, but now he was actively trying to be difficult.

“But we can’t just leave him!”

Lewis’ eyes softened and his human guise came back into place. He gently put a hand on her cheek. “You know how he is. Arthur says things he doesn’t mean all the time. He’ll get over it.”

Vivi didn’t seem convinced. “Just give him some space. He’ll come back in a few hours. He always does.”

“…Okay…”

—

Somehow the house seemed quieter with Arthur gone. It was hard to even fathom why. Usually Arthur was hulled up in his workshop tinkering with god-knows-what. He never made a lot of noise.

But the heavy silence that loomed over everyone left Vivi going practically insane. When one of them was upset, all of them were. Each of them dealt with it in different ways. Vivi was silent and usually pouted until she couldn’t take it anymore. Mystery would sleep and wait for things to play out.

Arthur would…well…

And Lewis had to keep moving. Sometimes he left the house to just walk around but usually he would clean things or rearrange rooms and furniture.

Which was exactly what he was doing now.

Vivi hated this. She hated it when they fought and she hated feeling like this even more. They were so distracted that they had to call off the investigation until tomorrow (it was Mystery’s demand). Arthur’s words, even if they didn’t mean them, were gnawing at her. As she watched her ghostly boyfriend wipe down the kitchen counter for what was probably the thousandth time, she finally spoke up. “Lew?”

“Yes?”

“Do I really seem like that?”

The ghost paused in his cleaning and turned to face her slightly. “Like what?”

“Like… I don’t care what other people say? That I only care about myself…?”

There was a pause before Lewis sighed. Setting down the rag, he floated over and sat next to her. “Don’t be silly. Of course you’re not like that,” he replied, wrapping an arm around her. “Arthur was just running his mouth. He didn’t mean it.”

Somehow she didn’t seem convinced. “But…I am pushy. And…and sometimes I don’t think before I act… And sometimes when you guys say something, I don’t hear you or I…” Before she could continue, a soft hand landed over her mouth. It was soon replaced by the ghost’s warm lips.

“I won’t deny you get excited or ahead of yourself sometimes,” Lewis began after he pulled away. “But Vivi, that doesn’t mean you don’t care. It just means you love what you do, and there’s no shame in that.” He gave the blue beauty a smile. “And if you didn’t care, then why did you protect Arthur from my rage? Why did you help me understand what really happened that night? Why do you always know what to say to get us excited for a mission?” Vivi soon found herself in the arms of her spectral boyfriend and she desperately tried to fight the stinging tears. “Why do you love us unconditionally even when we screw up?”

Lewis had a point. She could never stop loving her boys, no matter how childish or angry they got… “We wouldn’t follow you if we didn’t love you back, _leader.”_ That earned Lewis a small nudge into his nonexistent stomach. Vivi’s only response was a laugh.

“Thanks Lew…”

—

After six hours with no updates, Vivi started to get worried. Lewis had gone out for a spell to grab some groceries (donned with some sunglasses) and was stunned by Vivi’s expression when he got back. “Is he still not home?”

“No…” She turned and stared up at him. “Lewis, he’s almost never gone this long. I’m…I’m worried.”

He couldn’t blame her. Lewis wasn’t around when this happened but from what Vivi told him, the last time Arthur had been gone for this long…

Well, she hadn’t let him get out of anyone’s sight for months afterwards. Lewis watched as Vivi pulled out her phone and called Arthur’s cell. “Come on Artie, pick up…” A faint noise came from Arthur’s room a few seconds later; Vivi’s ringtone. Arthur hadn’t taken his phone with him. “Great!” Vivi groaned and hung up, sifting through her contacts once more.

“Now who are you calling?”

“Lance.”

Lewis could have whapped himself on the head. Well of course that would be the next person Vivi would call. As he set the groceries down, he could hear Vivi sighing in relief when she heard someone finally pick up the phone.

_“Kingsmen Mechanics.”_

“Lance? It’s Vivi.”

There was a small pause at the other end of the line. Vivi’s breath hitched. That didn’t feel like a good sigh. _“Vivi? Why are you calling me? We’re just about to close.”_

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. Is Arthur there? He left his phone here and we haven’t heard from him in hours and I’m getting worried.”

_“No… He’s not here. I haven’t seen him all day.”_

Vivi sent Lewis a worried look but Lance wasn’t done on the line. _“Vivi, what’s going on? Where’s my nephew?”_ And when he didn’t get an answer, his volume increased. _“You let him go off alone for that long?!”_ Vivi wasn’t the only one who knew what happened when Arthur had been missing for so long, and Lance had vowed to never let it happen again.

“I-I’m sorry!” The girl in blue whimpered back, eyes brimming with tears. “He –he was upset, and he needed space, and-!”

Before she got the chance to continue, Lewis gently took the phone from her. While he understood the mechanic’s anger and worry, yelling at Vivi wouldn’t solve anything. “Listen, Mr. Kingsmen,” he started. There wasn’t any need to ask who it was, even if Lance didn’t recognize the voice. Lewis was the only one who insisted on calling him that. “Arthur will be fine. We’re going to go out to look for him so just relax, alright?”

There was something that could only be described as a growl coming from the other line. _“You sure as hell better.”_ And with a *click*, the line went dead. Lewis sighed and handed the phone back to Vivi but paused as he noticed her face was in her hands…she was crying.

“Vivi…”

“H-he was right…” Vivi sobbed out. “I r-really don’t care…I’m awful…! I was…” Lewis didn’t let her finish. He swept her up in his arms and held her close.

“Don’t say such things. None of us knew how upset he would be.” Gently Lewis pecked her cheek and gave her a kind smile. “Come on. We need to find him. Apologies can come afterwards.” He watched as Vivi nodded and wiped her eyes. Good, that was the Vivi he knew and loved. Always willing to help. Lewis turned towards Mystery. “We’ll all split up to find him. He didn’t take the van so he can’t be too far, and I have a feeling his uncle is looking too. Agreed?”

Both Mystery and Vivi nodded. Time to split up.

—

Lewis had to give Arthur credit; when he didn’t want to be found, he was very good at hiding. The blonde next to never showed this kind of cunning.

There was no doubt in the ghost’s mind that Arthur was still in town. And still alive. He’d know if one of his friends had died. And so far, while things hadn’t felt normal, it was nothing drastic.

Yet. He sent the Deadbeats out to search too…just in case.

In human guise with his handy pair of sunglasses, Lewis peered over the edge of a certain bridge that one of the Deadbeats had led him too. If he was remembering correctly, this was the same bridge Vivi had said Arthur…well…

That was the last thing Lewis wanted to think about. His golden heart beat worriedly from inside his vest.

_“After my picture fades and darkness has turned to grey…”_

Lewis froze. That voice. Despite next to never hearing it like that, there was no mistaking who the singing was coming from. He peered over the edge and immediately felt a sense of relief.

_“Watching through windows, you’re wondering if I’m okay…”_

There he was, under the bridge. He wasn’t hurt, thank god. It looked like Arthur had just settled under the bridge. For the whole time he was gone? Lewis certainly hoped that wasn’t the case. He could see Arthur’s eyes were bloodshot and the dried tear streaks still on his cheeks. That golden heart paled a little.

_“Secrets stolen from deep inside…”_

He watched Arthur exhale and Lewis tensed immediately. That wasn’t just his breath coming out…that was smoke. In his right hand Arthur had a cigarette. Lewis was under the impression that he had quit that awful habit ages ago. Evidently not…

The ghost floated down silently, making sure Arthur couldn’t see him. The blonde wasn’t paying attention anyway, too wrapped up in his cancer on a stick and trying to get the rest of these sorrowful notes out.

_“The drum beats out of time…”_

Arthur forgot how to breathe when he felt warm arms wrap around him from behind and Lewis nuzzled him softly. “Lewi-?!”

The ghost smiled softly at him. _“If you’re lost, you can look – and you will find me. Time after time.”_

“Lew…” Here he thought his tears had tried hours ago, but that wasn’t the case. Arthur began to tear up once again as Lewis sang the chorus.

_“If you fall, I will catch you – I’ll be waiting. Time after time.”_

Especially at that part. He didn’t deserve that. Lewis didn’t have anyone to catch him when he fell…literally.

“I haven’t heard you sing in so long.” The smile was still on Lewis’ face, his voice soft after the song ended and he began to wipe away his boyfriend’s tears. “What’s the occasion?”

Arthur looked away. “Th-there’s none…I just…I don’t know…felt like it, I guess.”

“Mm…” The ghost’s eyes trailed from Arthur’s face to what was in his hand. “You’re smoking.” Arthur could hear the disapproving tone in Lewis’ voice and he looked away, ashamed. Next to him, two empty packages of Marlboros on the gravel, sopping wet from the river. There was a third package in Arthur’s lap and it was already half gone. “You’ve been doing it all day, haven’t you?” Lewis didn’t have much of a sense of smell anymore and even he could smell the smoke on Arthur.

The mechanic couldn’t answer. It didn’t matter since Lewis knew the answer anyway. He didn’t fight when Lewis reached down and took the still lit cigarette from his fingers and put it out in the river. “Have you been here all day?” The answer came in the form of a nod. “We’ve been worried about you, you know. Especially Vivi.”

“…” Finally Arthur found the courage to speak again. “Was she mad…?”

“No,” Lewis replied while shaking his head. “She was sad, actually. What you said really hurt her.” He watched Arthur swallow the lump in his throat. “She’s been down on herself all day. Asking me ridiculous things like what if she really doesn’t care? Things like that.”

Arthur visibly winced. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean it.”

“I know you didn’t. But I’m not the one to apologize to.” When he received no answer, Lewis sighed and stood up, pulling Arthur up with him. “You’ll come back, right? We missed you all day. We couldn’t even go on the case without you.”

Another wince. Now he felt even more guilty… “O-okay… I gotta make things right with her.”

“Yes you do.” He was cut off as Arthur started to cough. Gee, where had that come from, Lewis wondered sarcastically. “And if you won’t then I will tell you how much you smoked today. Although,” Lewis narrowed an eye at Arthur, making him shy away. “She’ll probably be able to smell it on you.”

“Y-yeah…” Arthur made a pathetic attempt at a smile in between his hacking. “I do…kinda reek…”

—

The first thing Vivi did when the two of them made it back was tackle Arthur into a hug with a string of apologies. Arthur felt awful. She was practically sobbing into him and it was all his fault. “Vivi…” But Arthur stopped her and gave his own apologies. He didn’t mean what he said, and he could blame a lot of things for it…but he wouldn’t excuse his words. He knew she cared.

The second thing Vivi did was order Arthur into the shower to at least try to dampen the smell of smoke. Right as he was turning to do just that, she exclaimed, “And don’t think you’re getting out of my sight that easily, mister! I’m coming with you.”

Arthur halted and his cheeks flushed red. “Wh-what?!”

“You heard me. We were worried about you all day and you didn’t even bother to call or anything to tell us you were alive. I’m not leaving you alone, Artie.” Grabbing him by his vest, the bluenette began to drag her orange boyfriend into the bathroom. “Lew, you come too!”

“H-hey, hold on!”

Lewis grinned and floated right up next to them. “I’m coming.”

“Damn right you are.” Vivi was already removing her clothes on the way, leaving a nice trail of blue garments to the bathroom. “Now let’s clean this troublemaker up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time After Time (c) Cyndi Lauper


	9. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So remember that headcanon I have where Arthur's originally from England and moved to the states after his parents died? Well, here's expanding on that.

It had been twelve years since he’d been home.

Everything looked so different, starting with the airport. Arthur supposed he should have been expecting it but that didn’t deter his enthusiasm in the slightest. In fact it only made him more excited. This would be as much of an adventure for him as it would be for his travel companions.

He didn’t even notice himself slipping back into his old accent almost immediately. It just felt so _natural_ now. Here he had worked so hard to train himself to speak like everyone else in the new country, in his new home. All of that out the window in a second.

It didn’t hit him until he saw his friends’ stares. Even then it didn’t register right away. But as soon as he figured it out, he slapped his hands over his mouth. “Oh fuck–Guys I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to, I swear it just slipped out, I’ll never do it again-!” His accent was disgusting on him, it had to be. That was why they were staring at him like that right? But he was hearing it all around him and it was just so _hard_ not to slip back into his old voice-!

Lewis placed a hand over his mouth this time and smiled gently at him. “Artie. Relax, would you?”

He almost fell over from the force of the hug Vivi gave him. “Seriously, don’t apologize. It suits you so well so don’t stop speaking like that!”

“Wh…no, no, it’s stupid…”

“It’s cute.” Arthur huffed and swatted Lewis’ shoulder, prompting a laugh from the taller man.

“Don’t call me cute, Lew.” Much to his chagrin, his accent was only getting stronger. This was not proving Lewis’ point and he refused to believe otherwise.

“Stop being cute and maybe I will. But that’s going to be hard for you.”

Vivi giggled and straightened out Arthur’s vest as she pulled away from her hug. “This is so cool though, isn’t it? We’re actually going to see your old neighborhood!”

“Yeah, who would’ve thought we’d get a case all the way out here, and where you used to live even?”

Arthur was just glad their client paid for their flights over. It was a job, sure, but he wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t excited to see his old neighborhood again.

Maybe later he could stop at the graveyard. Say hello to his parents. He hadn’t been to their graves in twelve years either.

“You’ll show us around too, right Artie?” Vivi’s smile was nearly blinding. Arthur was pretty sure she was the most excited to be here.

“Well yeah, ‘course I will. But uh, keep in mind I haven’t been here in years, Vi. It’s gonna be a little different.”

–

Their clients were an extremely generous family who were pleased to see them as they met up at the airport. The first stop was a car rental shop (and Vivi and Lewis were completely turned around by the driver’s seat being on the right side of the car and driving on the left side of the road. Arthur was the one driving around here) and from there their clients led them to the hotel they’d be staying at. They had a whole week here, after all.

A day or two to take care of this haunting problem, and the rest of the time was vacation. It was perfect!

The case was as basic as they came. Their clients were a newlywed couple that had just moved into their home. Unfortunately, the place was haunted. They had tried other paranormal groups but none of them seemed to do the job. And since the Mystery Skulls were one of the most highly rated paranormal investigators (at least from the people who actually believed this sort of thing) they sent for them. Money wasn’t an issue and they were happy to pay for the trip here if they could take care of the problem. How could they turn down an offer like that?

As for the ghosts themselves, there were at least two since they heard two different voices. One sounded male while the other sounded female, although it was hard to tell. The walls rumbled, lights flickered, furniture moved, rooms were rearranged when they came home from a long day of work…and the voices were screaming something about “finding their baby”.

Lewis and Vivi handled the questioning while Arthur surveyed over the papers. It seemed like the place had a small history of being haunted. Nobody was sure if it was the same ghost (or ghosts) or not but it had been like that for years. A haunted house in his old neighborhood? Well that was certainly new.

But once Arthur got a look at the address, he froze.

_N-no way._

It was his old address. What in the world? Since when was his old house haunted? It certainly wasn’t like that when he lived there…at least as far as he was aware.

Then again, he’d been incredibly young at the time. Maybe he just didn’t notice? Still, what a coincidence…

He felt a nudge on his robotic arm and looked down to see Mystery staring up at him curiously. The dog had to keep up appearances so he didn’t talk, but his expression said it all.

“It’s nothing, buddy…” Arthur responded before looking back at the papers and patting the dog on the head. “I’ll…tell you later. When we’re away from the clients and everything. Y’know.” Mystery whined but he understood. As long as Arthur wasn’t keeping secrets. They’d all agreed not to do that kind of thing anymore.

–

Vivi was stunned. “Whoa, Artie, you’re seriously telling me you used to live in a place like this?” They knew their clients were pretty loaded but this house was more like a small mansion. Not nearly as big as Lewis’ but still. They weren’t expecting this! The outside was a little different than Arthur remembered. It looked like it had been recently remodeled.

“Well, my family’s always been pretty loaded…” Arthur replied nervously, still wincing at the sound of his own voice. It was hard to hear himself speak like this again. “I guess I kinda inherited my parents’ money when they…passed on. Couldn’t use it ‘till I was legal though.” He had to get the money for his robotic patents somehow.

“So why does your uncle work in a shabby old repair shop?”

The mechanic huffed. “First of all, it’s not shabby. Second of all, because it’s what he likes to do. Just ‘cause he has a lot of money doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to help people.” And Arthur was more than happy to work there as well. So what happened to his parents…didn’t happen to anyone else.

_Faulty brakes, they said. Couldn’t stop when the other car swerved, they said. That’s not gonna happen to anyone else on my watch._

“Are you two going to keep yapping or are we actually going to go inside?” Mystery rolled his eyes and gently pushed on the back of Vivi’s legs with his head. “We do have a case to solve.”

“Okay, okay!” Vivi chuckled and gave Mystery a little pat before leading the way. She had been given the keys to the old house and fumbled around to find them for a moment. Arthur felt a large hand on his shoulder.

Lewis looked concerned. “You’re not nervous, are you?”

“W-who me? Nah Lew, why would I be nervous?”

“Just…you seemed lost in thought for a moment there.”

The blonde fell silent for a few seconds as he contemplated an answer. “Well, I mean…it’s gonna be weird walking through my old house again. You were right, what really are the chances? I’m not nervous, I’m just…”

“A little weirded out?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Finally Vivi managed to get the door open and all four of them walked inside. It was a lot more different in here, though Arthur did feel a tad nostalgic. Different or not, he did recognize some things. The fireplace was the same. The stairs (and the little closet under it) were the same. It was little things like that that made the blonde smile.

After Arthur explained the general layout of the house, it was decided the four of them would split up to cover more ground. The house was a lot bigger on the inside than the outside.

Arthur took the upstairs. He was more curious about how his old room looked than the ghosts, if he was being completely honest with himself. But just as he was about to open the door, he felt a chill down his spine.

_Oh no. Here? Now?_ He almost groaned but kept it turn and turned to see a faint figure disappear down another hallway and around a corner. _Why is it always me?_

But now that he saw it, he couldn’t ignore it…as much as he wanted to. Swallowing nervously, Arthur followed the figure. Whoever it was, he faintly saw a white gown…was it a gown? It was hard to tell but he knew it was at least a skirt…so probably the person with the female voice. Where was the male one then?

Down the hall, Arthur came to a set of double doors and he felt a little sick. This had been his parents’ room. He remembered always sneaking in there and hiding under their bed before popping up to surprise them.

Best not to think about that now. Unless she had gone through the floor, this was the only other place down this hallway. He could hear a faint sound coming from inside the room as well.

…Sobbing? _“̷M̀y ͟ba̵b̷y͞…͘w͘here ͞įs h̵ę…?̧”_

Just like what their clients said.

_“He ̀w̸a͘s̀ ̧tak͡eń ̡aw̡a̧y͏…b͜r͜ing̷ ͜him͟ b̧a̧ck̛…”̶_

There was the male voice, wanting the same thing. Steeling himself, Arthur pushed through the massive doors and peered around. “H…hello?”

It was deathly silent now (no pun intended) and Arthur couldn’t see any ghosts in here. Had they moved somewhere else? But just as soon as he thought that, the soft sobbing came back. _“Brinǵ ̨him̴ ̸b͏a͡c͠k͟…!”̢_

There they were. Hunched over near the bed, two figures were curled around each other. A couple maybe? A couple looking for their…son, it sounded like.

“Um…hello there?” Arthur tried again, causing the figures to snap their head in his direction.

And Arthur swore he forgot how to breathe.

Both of them were dressed in formal attire. The man had familiar spiky blonde hair while the female had beautiful white flowing locks. Their eyes were just like Lewis’, hollowed out like a voice and glowing irises. The man had deep brown irises while the woman had radiant amber ones.

They stared at each other for what felt like ages before Arthur finally found the will to speak.

“M…Mum? Dad?”

–

_Daniel and Theresa Kingsmen. Married for fourteen years with only one son. Cause of death: Side of the car hit and they tumbled off the road. Daniel with a broken spine and Theresa pierced by multiple shards of glass from the broken windshield. Time of death: 20:24. Only living relative located in the United States._

Those words had been drilled into his head for years. He was pretty sure the cops hadn’t meant for him to hear it but he had. His parents were dead.

He had just seen them an hour ago… He was sick; they were just going to get him medicine…

And now they were suddenly standing right in front of him twelve years later. He felt himself start to tear up, despite fighting it. They looked no different than the last time he’d seen them (save for the eyes and the formal attire; Arthur was starting to become convinced that death made everyone dapper). He, on the other hand…he probably looked a lot different.

That was probably why they didn’t recognize him. They were probably expecting a ten-year-old boy. _“̕W̴h͜o͢…?”̢_ The walls around them rattled from his father’s, Daniel’s, voice and Arthur shuddered. No, no he couldn’t be scared. These were the ghosts of his parents. They hadn’t moved on this whole time, confined to their old home. But why? _“͞Who ̶ar̷e ̡yo̡u͢?͞”̵_

“I-it’s me!” Arthur tried again, gesturing to himself and a few tears rolling down his cheeks. “Dad, it’s Arthur!”

The ghosts stared at him as if they couldn’t believe their eyes. _“̢A…A͏r̡thur…͜?́”͏_ His mother, Theresa, floated forward to get a better look at the mechanic, who gave her a gentle smile.

“Yeah, Mum. It’s me…” He didn’t flinch away when the ghost of his mother put a hand to his cheek. She was freezing, but he didn’t care. He was used to that by now.

_“Arthur…”_ Her voice lost the small echo it carried before and before Arthur knew it, he was being squeezed tightly in a hug. “ARTHUR!” Soon enough his father joined in. Arthur wasn’t normally one for close contact (unless it was with Vivi and Lewis) but this he didn’t mind a bit. In fact he clung to them right back, choking out a small sob.

This was real. They were dead but they were here. “Oh my baby! My baby boy!” Theresa shrieked with joy, pelting her son’s face with kisses.

“I wouldn’t say he’s much of a baby anymore, Theresa,” Daniel said with an echoing laugh. He turned Arthur to face him. “You’ve gotten so tall…”

“W-well yeah, I mean…” Arthur smiled sadly. “It’s been twelve years, Dad.”

“Has it truly been that long…?” A nod. “So that would make you 22 this year?” Another nod.

“Oh hush.” Theresa wasn’t having it. She clung to her son desperately. “You’re still my baby boy, Arthur.”

He’d let that slide, but only because it was his mum and he hadn’t seen her in so long. “But where have you been all these years?” Daniel put a hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “We couldn’t find you anywhere…”

And that’s why they stayed behind; why they hadn’t moved on. They were looking for him. Of course, they couldn’t have known. Arthur’s face fell. “I was…was… W-well y’know, I didn’t have anywhere to go after you both…” He let that part drop. “S-so I was told I had to live with Uncle Lance. He was there at the funeral and…and took me to the States.” Before living with Lance, Arthur had seen his uncle maybe once or twice. He barely knew the man but was sent to live with him anyway. Not that he was complaining. Now Arthur loved his uncle to pieces.

There was a beat of silence and Arthur’s parents embraced him once again. “We’re so sorry, Arthur…”

“We didn’t want to leave you behind…”

Arthur shook his head. “It’s n-not your fault. You guys didn’t mean to get into an accident.” He forced a smile for them. “Besides…I work at Lance’s shop now. I make sure things like that won’t happen to anyone else.”

They beamed at him. They couldn’t be more proud. That was just like their Arthur, always thinking of others…

“So, Lance’s shop, huh? How’s that old codger doing?”

–

He couldn’t explain the feeling of catching up with his parents. It was unreal to have them here but at the same time it was as if they never left. Arthur explained everything. How school had been after moving to the US (though he left out the bullying parts), working at the shop, meeting Lewis and Vivi, the three of them along with Vivi’s pet dog starting up a paranormal investigators group (“So that’s why you weren’t so shocked to see two ghosts floating around.”)…even going on to say how he was dating his two best friends. They were more than thrilled for him.

“Don’t worry, they’re here too! I’ll introduce you to the-!” Arthur paused and then smacked his forehead. “We were here on a case! I completely forgot about them…” How long had he been talking for? He was surprised Vivi hadn’t called him up by now.

“Arthur…” Theresa’s voice had gone so quiet. Once again she floated over to him but this time she put a hand on his arm.

His robotic arm. Arthur flinched, realizing he left that part out. “U-uh…”

“What…is this?”

“Um…my arm?”

Daniel narrowed an eye. “Why is it made of metal?”

Arthur suddenly found the floor extremely fascinating. “B-because I, uh…lost my real one. So I made another.”

“You-?!” His parents looked at each other, horrified. “You lost your ar͝m?!̸”

“H-how? What happened?”

Oh boy. That was a can of worms Arthur did not want to open ever again, especially not to his parents. He clutched onto his metal arm, a nervous habit he never managed to break. “I…”

“He’s here!” Arthur counted his lucky stars when he heard Mystery’s voice. He must have sniffed him out, because a second later Mystery came bounding in and was licking his face. “Wh-whoa hey! Down boy!”

Lewis and Vivi came in soon after. Vivi was about to chastise Arthur for not charging his phone again but stopped when she saw the ghosts. “Uhhhhh…Arthur?”

“What’s going on here?” Lewis finished her sentence for her.

Looking in between the ghosts of his parents, Arthur grinned. “Guys? These are my parents. Mum, Dad, that’s Lewis, Vivi, and Mystery. The ones I told you about.”

“Hold on, what?!”

–

“Arthur dear, you didn’t tell us your boyfriend was a ghost.”

“Well geez Mum, he wasn’t always a ghost, y’know.”

Many more explanations were in order, and most of the questions came from Vivi. It was during that time that Arthur noticed something horrifying.

His parents were fading.

His heart sunk. It was bound to happen eventually. They had to move on and who was he to stop them?

Well their son, of course! He hugged them both tightly, refusing to let go. “I’m g-gonna miss you guys…” Arthur sniffled. Somehow their ghostly embrace had turned warm.

At least he had seen them again. At least he had seen them properly before they moved on… It was the closure he needed.

“Oh Arthur…” Theresa kissed her son’s forehead and wiped some tears away. “We’ll miss you too…but we’re so glad you’re safe. That’s all we ever wanted…”

Daniel squeezed him tight. “We’re so proud of you, son. You’ve already done so many wonderful things. We couldn’t be happier for you.”

Arthur flinched. He still hadn’t told his parents about his arm. And from the way things were looking…he wouldn’t get a chance to. “I’m n-not all that great, Dad…” And Lewis knew immediately what he was referring to… It broke his heart.

“You hush.” Theresa gave him another peck. “You’re a wonderful person, Arthur. And we love you.”

“We’ll always love you.”

God he missed them saying that… “I l-love you guys too…” Arthur choked out.

And just like that, they vanished. Their embrace was soon replaced by Lewis and Vivi’s arms in comfort as Arthur sobbed. He was so glad they were at peace now. They weren’t suffering.

He made himself a promise that day. When he eventually saw them again, he’d tell them about his arm. They deserved to know.


	10. Only Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vithur week prompt: Arthur is naturally nervous, and spooks easily. Vivi is naturally collected, and bulldozes her way through problems. But what happens when Vivi has a fear or phobia that Arthur doesn't? (Fluff of any degree ensues)

Their first case after six months, after Lewis’ death,after Arthur finally got out of the hospital and was getting used to his new arm. This was supposed to be an easy, basic case; a chance to prove to Arthur that not everything they had to do went horribly wrong.

Well, they had.

“Let me OUT OF HERE YOU FLYING JELLY-KNOCKERS!” Vivi lunged herself at the steel door but it proved to have no effect. She tried again and again with the same results. Her whole body hurt and she was pretty sure her right shoulder was sprained but she didn’t care. She had to get out.

The room she was trapped inside was so small that even someone as tiny as Vivi was feeling cramped. Her hands were tied behind her back, rending her mostly helpless. She lunged one more time, and when nothing happened, Vivi slid down onto the cold ground with a whimper of pain.

How long had she been in here? Hours? Days? It felt like forever. God, was this how Arthur felt all those times he got captured? It was awful. Vivi vowed to never poke fun at him about that ever again. It was so cold and dark and…it felt like the walls were closing in…

_‘You two go that way and me and Mystery will go this way.’_

And she was completely and utterly alone.

She hadn’t noticed until now. Before, Vivi never had a huge problem with being alone. Sometimes when doing research she even preferred it. But now it was dawning on her… Ever since Lewis’ death, she hated being alone. Someone was always with her, whether it be her coworkers, or Mystery, her loyal dog…or Arthur.

Arthur…

Perhaps it was because she had been so busy making sure her best friend didn’t fall apart that she hadn’t noticed. Arthur had taken Lewis’ death extremely hard. It wasn’t like Vivi could blame him, especially after losing his arm…but after she had to talk the blonde off a ledge, she had made sure he was never alone. At the same time, she hadn’t been alone either…

Now she was. It was terrifying. Her heart rate increased, her breathing shallowed. Was she losing it? Why were the walls getting closer?!

_Flashes of green everywhere, a blood-curdling scream-_

“Vivi?!” A frantic but familiar voice snapped her out of it. The walls were starting to back away and Vivi noticed she had curled up out of fear and tears were streaming down her cheeks.

But that didn’t matter. Someone was here! “A…Arthur…?” She whimpered softly.

“It is you!” She had never been so happy to hear him in her entire life. “Listen, I’ll get you out!” As she listened to the noises from the other side of the door, Vivi let out a strained laugh. She could just picture it, Arthur finding out a clever way to open the door. She didn’t know how it was locked and by the sound of it, the blonde couldn’t get it open either. But she knew Arthur. He wouldn’t let her be stuck here forever, with the walls closing in…

_“Open, damn you!”_ She heard a frustrated yell and then a loud ***THUD*** that sounded like metal hitting against metal. Before she knew it, the door was slowly beginning to creek open…and there he was. He looked sheepish and his metal arm was still outstretched. “Ah…wow. I didn’t think that would work.” Arthur laughed nervously, putting his hand down. “All I did was punch it a little and…”

The blonde trailed off when he saw the state Vivi was in. It was bad enough she was tied up but her eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks were flushed with tear stains… Arthur immediately dropped to his knees to get a better look. “Oh my god, Vivi, are you alright?! They didn’t hurt you, did they?” He began tugging at the rope around her. “Mystery’s taking care of them but I swear, if they hurt you…”

“I-I’m fine…” Vivi sniffled, though she obviously wasn’t both physically and mentally. She tried to pull herself together, go back to being that confident leader, but she had been so scared… Why was she so scared? She didn’t understand…

_‘Mystery? Where’d you go?’_

Before she could stop herself, Vivi buried her face into Arthur’s chest with a sob. It caught Arthur completely off guard. Vivi was the strong one, always level-headed. Seeing her like this was unreal. But then Arthur remembered that Vivi was a person too…and could still be fragile. He gently wrapped his arms around her, forgetting the ropes for the moment. “Vivi…” he said softly, rubbing her back and wishing he was better at comforting people. “It’s alright…” Her arms were suddenly freed and she clung to her best friend. How her ropes were undone, she didn’t know or care. All Vivi knew was that she needed comfort.

She wasn’t sure how long it was until she calmed down. But her breathing began to regulate and the tears stopped coming. Arthur’s shirt was soaked but he hardly cared. A metal hand found its way under her chin. “Feel better?”

There was that laughter he missed. It was strained but at least it meant the crying was over. Arthur watched as she rubbed her eyes with her sleeve. “Yeah…sorry about that.”

“Don’t be. You’ve done the same for me like a hundred times. Only fair I’d return the favor.”

Vivi felt something large and warm next to her and she turned to see Mystery staring at her sadly. She scratched behind her ears. Well that explained how she was untied now. “Is everything over…?”

Mystery nodded. “They won’t bother us again. And the authorities should be here soon.”

—

Vivi had kept silent throughout most of the questioning, refusing to leave Arthur’s side or even let go of his hand the entire time. All of the insane cult members were promptly arrested and the three of them were finally allowed to go home after what felt like forever.

Arthur was glad he had two hands again. Vivi still refused to let go of one of them and the other was clinging to Mystery as if her life depended on it. He wanted to ask so badly, and now that they were alone…

“Vivi?” The blonde asked quietly, taking his eyes off the road for a split second to stare at her. “What happened? You can tell us… The cops aren’t gonna bother you about it anymore.”

She highly doubted that. But Arthur and Mystery did deserve to know. “It’s…so stupid…” she started, breaking contact with Mystery only for a moment to wipe her eyes again. “It wasn’t even that scary. I was just locked in that room. All alone…” She let out a dry chuckle. “Maybe I was starting to go crazy. The walls were closing in and everything.”

Something clicked in Arthur’s mind. “Vivi, are you…are you claustrophobic?”

“…I don’t know…” The blue girl answered truthfully. “I’ve never felt that way before…ever. Everything was just so cold and…lonely.” The migraine certainly didn’t help either. Her grip on Arthur’s flesh hand increased. “I hate being alone…”

_All by herself, wandering down the path, who was screaming when she was all alone? Who was staring at her?_

So, claustrophobic and maybe even a small case of monophobia…or a large one. He hadn’t known Vivi to ever be monophobic but in the state Arthur found her in, she must have been terrified. It was so rare to see her like that. He had to keep reminding himself that Vivi wasn’t superhuman. She was regular human, and had fears like everyone else.

That damned cave had caused even more damage that he didn’t know about…

When they pulled up to Vivi’s apartment complex, she still refused to let go of Arthur’s hand. “Don’t go…” Arthur almost had to strain himself to hear her quiet plea. “Please don’t go…”

The blonde shuffled nervously. “S-sure…I’ll stay until you calm down.” And blushed when Vivi scooted a little closer to him.

“Can you stay the night?”

The blush only got deeper. If Vivi noticed, she didn’t say anything. “Wh-what?”

“Please? Just this once? I don’t want to be alone…”

He wanted to say that she wouldn’t be alone, that Mystery would be there, but the dog was giving him a look. He didn’t have much of a choice here. “…Yeah. I’ll stay.”

Inside, Arthur started immediately fussing over Vivi once she removed her sweater. Large bruises were starting to show on her arms and the sprain in her shoulder was throbbing in pain. “Vivi! I told you to tell me if those guys did anything to you!”

“They didn’t,” she answered simply. “I did that while trying to get out of that room.”

Good thing it was just a sprain. One ice pack wrapped around her shoulder later and Arthur found himself with an extremely clingy Vivi on top of him curled up on the couch. Vivi’s arms were tightly wrapped around him, cuddling him like a teddy bear, and she had fallen asleep almost instantly. She was safe like this.

Arthur smiled as he gently rubbed her back. He didn’t mind this. After everything she had done for him, this was the least he could do for her. And he wouldn’t lie and say he didn’t enjoy being so close to her…

_Don’t even go there, Kingsmen._

A sigh. No, the voice was right. He would comfort her, but that’s it. It meant nothing else… He didn’t deserve anyone, least of all her.

“Sleep well, Vivi…”


	11. Not a Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on this: http://ectoimp.tumblr.com/post/117841527689/how-can-i-trust-you-how-can-i-even-be-sure-that
> 
> Part 1 of my little Deadbeat obsession. I'm pretty sure this is what started it all.
> 
> Also slightly based on the headcanon that Arthur protected Lewis when they were kids because of all his "girly" interests.

Arthur had never heard Vivi so angry before.

In fact, Arthur was certain he hadn’t heard _Mystery_ this angry before either.

Mystery didn’t get angry like Vivi did. While Vivi was loud, sometimes even destructive, Mystery always kept his calm demeanor. But the disappointment dripping in his voice was hard to ignore. Mystery never sounded like that…least of all to Vivi.

“You’re being unreasonable.”

“Shut up.”

“Vivi, you’ve seen this countless times before. You know how death can change a person.”

“…”

“He understands that he was wrong. Arthur doesn’t blame him at all. So why-?”

“Of _course_ Arthur doesn’t blame him.” Said blonde heard the unmistakable sound of Vivi slamming her hands on the table. “Even though Arthur’s the one he tried to kill. Even though Arthur’s the one least likely to kill someone and he should have known that. _Even though Arthur’s the one he lied to the most!”_

“Vivi-”

“Just shut up, alright?! I’m sick and tired of hearing it! And _YOU-”_ A second later Arthur heard the sound of glass breaking. _“GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!”_

Was she even talking to Mystery at this point? Arthur risked a look, hoping he wouldn’t be spotted eavesdropping, Two Deadbeats hung in the air, having dodged whatever breakable projectile Vivi had thrown at them. A glass, if the shards on the floor were anything to go by.

The Deadbeats looked crushed, their hearts dimmed to a pale blue. But they did as they were told and quietly phased through the ceiling back to their master. Vivi’s breathing was heavy as she sat back onto her chair. Her head flopped onto the table without a care and her arms covered it as if she was trying to block out everything.

Mystery stood. Now Arthur could hear actual anger in his voice. “Vivi, at this rate you’re going to drive him away! He’s already missing! Do you honestly want that?”

“…I don’t care…”

Arthur froze. There was no way she could mean that.

“Just…just leave me alone, Mystery.” The way her voice quivered, Arthur could tell she was crying. He watched as Mystery softened his stance, trotting over and lying himself down at his mistress’ feet. That was his way of comfort…eventually Vivi would calm down and they could talk things out reasonably.

He hoped.

For now, Arthur had another problem. Mystery has said Lewis was missing and he had no idea of where to find their wayward ghost. They’d just gotten him back. No way Arthur was going to let him disappear again.

A small tug on his sleeve brought him out of his thoughts. The blond’s gaze traveled down to see another Deadbeat looking up at him expectantly. Was it one of the ones from before? He couldn’t tell them apart (and he had no idea how Lewis could, let alone give them all _names)._

He wondered if it could understand him. They could sing like nobody’s business and when the time called for it they could be downright terrifying. But…that was about all he knew about the little ghosties.

“Do you know where Lewis is?”

The Deadbeat nodded. Well that answered two questions at least.

“Can you take me to him?”

Another nod and the small ghost gave another few eager tugs on Arthur’s sleeve to get him to follow. He only prayed that Lewis would be okay…and that he would even want to see him at all.

–

“Whoa…”

Yeah, Lewis had been here alright. At least his little… _outburs_ t had been on the outskirts of town, otherwise police and firemen would be all over this place. The small crater was a little disconcerting however. At least it wasn’t as big of an explosion as the one back in the mansion.

The Deadbeat gestured for him to follow still, just a little longer. But at this point, Arthur didn’t think he needed its help anymore. Not that he didn’t appreciate it but…the gentle hums of various other Deadbeats was a pretty good giveaway.

Eventually they found him huddled up next to a large tree. Arthur’s guide let out a small chirp and floated over to Lewis and the mechanic took note of his appearance. Fancy suit, lighter hair…

He reached out to place a comforting hand on his best friend’s shoulder but quickly stopped himself. No, he couldn’t do that. Lewis flinched whenever he got anywhere near him. Another tactic then.

“Lewis?”

The ghost raised his head. Sure enough, bone faced. Some kind of liquid was also coming out of his eye sockets and trailing down where his cheeks would be. Had Vivi been here and sound of mind, Arthur had no doubt she’d want to know what those tears were made out of.

Arthur gave Lewis a small smile and sat on his knees a safe distance away. “Hey Lew…you kinda vanished on us. I was worried.”

There was no answer. Lewis couldn’t hold Arthur’s gaze and dropped his into his lap.

“Listen, I…I know things have been tense between us. Between you and Vivi. But trust me, the last thing we want is for you to disappear. I m-mean…you’re finally back with us. Why would we want you gone?”

“…Are you sure?” Lewis didn’t lift his eyes, but his voice echoed all around them. “I was…stupid to think things could be normal. I’m anything but normal now. And I did something unforgivable.”

“Lew-”

“I shouldn’t have come back. Look at me Arthur.” Stretching his hands out in front of him, he regarded them with disgust. “I lied to you. I broke every single promise I ever made to you. I tried to kill you. I’m a _monster.”_

Screw it. Arthur couldn’t listen to this any longer. With little regard to his own safety, he closed the distance between them and placed both hands on Lewis’ shoulders. He felt the ghost tense up under them and Arthur almost drew back from the look of shock on that boney face.

But no. He had to get this out. He had to make Lewis understand. “Shut _up,_ Lewis. You honestly think we would want that?” The grip on his shoulders tightened, refusing to let him leave even if he easily could. “You had every right to think what you did. I killed you, Lewis. Maybe it wasn’t _me_ but it was my body, my arm, that did it.”

That tiny smile was back. “You’re not a monster, Lew. You’re anything but. I don’t blame you at all.” Much to his dismay, Arthur could feel the tiny sting of tears starting to form. He ignored them. “I’m just…just glad I got a chance to apologize. And you’re crazy if you think I wouldn’t want you here after all this time. Come on man, you should know me better than that.”

The silence that stretched on was almost unbearable but Arthur willed himself to be patient. Slowly he watched as Lewis placed his hands over his own. At first he was afraid Lewis was going to push him away, but the ghost merely gave his hands a gentle squeeze.

“You’re right,” the ghost replied, shifting back into his human visage. “I should know you better than that. You’ve done so much for me, protected me for as long as I can remember, and I…I actually thought…”

Before Arthur could even blink, Lewis pulled him into a hug, and Arthur swore he forgot how to breathe. Lewis was touching him. Hugging him. _Willingly._ It was impossible to stop the tears now, from both of them. It took a few moments to snap out of his shock but once he did, Arthur hugged Lewis back immediately. Their first friendly gesture since his return. He couldn’t help but feel emotional.

For a ghost, Lewis was strangely warm…and still smelled like peppers.

“I’m so sorry, Arthur…”

“Don’t be. You got nothing to be sorry for.”

“We can…we can still be friends…?”

The mechanic couldn’t hold back the strained laugh. “I can’t think of anything else I’d r-rather have right now…”

Except maybe for Lewis and Vivi to reconcile, but Arthur knew that would take some time. Right now he wasn’t in any hurry to break this embrace. He needed this. They _both_ needed this.


	12. Kittens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Prompt: For a prompt or two, how about the Mystery Skulls end up with a litter of kittens and their mamma who adopts Mystery as co-parent.
> 
> Given by specspectecle on Tumblr, thanks a bunch :)
> 
> Chapter contains ot3 hints.

“Mystery?”

The dog had paused in their dash home, making Vivi cringe. It was pouring down rain and usually Mystery hated getting wet. At least she had her umbrella but even that was proving useless in this wind. Curse her need to stay late at the bookstore! “What’s the matter? Come on, we gotta go!”

For once, Mystery ignored Vivi’s words and instead ran into a nearby alleyway. “Hey-!” Oh he was so not getting any treats tonight for this. Groaning, Vivi followed her naughty dog. Luckily he hadn’t gone very far, only stopping about halfway in to look around, his ears twitching in all directions. “Mystery, come on,” the soaked investigator grumbled as she tugged at her dog’s collar. “I’d like to get dry sometime next week, and I know you do too.” Yet he didn’t budge.

“Do you hear that?”

“Huh?” Vivi paused. “Hear what? I hear the wind and the rain. Which I would like to get out of, by the way.”

Mystery sent her an unamused look. “Not that. Listen harder.”

Resisting the urge to groan again, Vivi complied. She had no idea what she was supposed to be listening for. All she could hear was just the howling all around them and…

…Mewling?

Mystery had trudged on ahead, finally coming upon a soaked cardboard box. He nudged the top of it open with his nose. “I found it.”

As Vivi peered inside, a wave of sympathy washed over her along with the rain. Five cats, four of them kittens, stared back at her and Mystery. The kittens were mewling desperately while the mother did her best to keep them safe and warm. But in this weather, it was proving rather fruitless. “Oh…” She watched as the kittens sprung up to paw at Mystery’s muzzle.

To her surprise, Mystery gently pushed past them to nudge at the mother. Vivi was horrified to see that she wasn’t moving. “Is she…?”

“She’s still alive,” Mystery assured her. “But she’s very weak.”

She must have been taking care of her kittens instead of herself. Vivi felt horrible. Were they strays? Did someone just leave them here? Either way, she couldn’t watch this. “We can’t just leave them here…”

“I would consider you a horrible person if you did.”

Vivi chuckled and gently picked up the soggy box. “The vet isn’t open now… We’ll have to wait till tomorrow to take them.” She just hoped the mother could last until then. For now though, Mystery seemed adamant about getting these little ones somewhere safe and warm, and Vivi couldn’t agree more. “I hope the boys won’t mind.”

–

Lewis frowned as he checked his phone for the umpteenth time. Vivi should have been home hours ago but she had assured him that she was just staying late to get some research done. But did she really have to stay out past ten? The worrywart in him was going crazy.

A tired groan from the one in his lap made Lewis calm and he shifted the blanket further around Arthur. The man had finally fallen asleep at a decent hour and Lewis couldn’t help but pull him close. Luckily it didn’t seem to disrupt Arthur’s sleep any (in fact he seemed to be sleeping sounder than when he wasn’t in Lew’s lap, something the ghost was pleased about). When Arthur was really asleep, he slept harder than Vivi. And that was saying something.

But if Vivi didn’t call or come home in the next five minutes, Lewis was going searching, nerves be dammed. He was sure Arthur would understand.

Luckily, four minutes and thirty seconds later, Vivi opened the door to their shared apartment with Mystery right on her heels. The not!dog shook out his fur while Vivi discarded her umbrella on the floor without a care. It’s not like it helped much. “There you are!” Lewis exclaimed, and Arthur didn’t even stir. “Vivi, you’re as bad as Arthur sometimes, I swear.”

“Oh come on,” Vivi shot back, sticking out her tongue. “I’m not nearly that bad. At least I don’t stay until three in the goddamn morning.”

She had a point, even if Lewis didn’t want to admit it. Just as he was about to speak further, he paused. “Is that…meowing?”

Vivi smiled nervously. The kittens were relentless with their chatter. “Um…yes? They were stuck out in the rain, Lewlew. We couldn’t just leave them.”

“…Hang on a second.” As gently as he could, Lewis picked up Arthur and floated to their shared room to place him on the bed. He was back a second later.

“Aw, was he sleeping?”

“Yeah, still is. We’ll leave him alone for now.” Lewis sounded distracted and eyed the box in Vivi’s arms curiously. He had to resist the urge to completely fawn all over the tiny creatures once Vivi opened the box. They were so small, couldn’t be more than just a few weeks old.

“Bring them over here,” Mystery cut in, walking over to a corner and lying down. “Lewis, could you please get some towels? We’re going to need them.”

It didn’t take the ghost long to return to quite the adorable scene. While Vivi was making sure all of the kittens were okay (and maybe playing with them a little), Mystery had started taking care of the mother. Even Lewis could tell she looked ill. Thankfully her eyes were open, but she was weakly hissing at Vivi. “Is she okay?”

“She’s just concerned for her children,” Mystery replied. Luckily the kittens didn’t seem frightened at all and were in fact crawling all over Vivi’s lap. Lewis knelt down and gently began to dry off the tiny creatures, and draped a towel over the mother as well.

Eventually things started to calm down. Lewis had convinced Vivi that he and Mystery could keep an eye on them so that she could shower and stop looking like she just walked through a typhoon (he got a little smack for that). To keep them all from wandering off, Lewis had gotten another box, a dry one, to keep all the cats inside.

And still Mystery refused to leave their side. Lewis found it almost adorable. “I’ve never seen you like this before.”

The dog lifted his head after making sure they were alright for the hundredth time. “Hm?”

“So protective. I mean I know you’re protective of Vivi and all that but not like this.”

A small chuckle rang out as Mystery settled down next to the box. “That’s because I know Vivi can take care of herself. These…cannot.” He paused. “And…truth be told, I relate to them in a small way.”

“Really?” Lewis was immediately interested. Mystery never talked about his life before Vivi. “Like how?”

He could tell Mystery was debating on if he should speak, but eventually he relented. “I was the same. Left to rot, many years ago.” An image of cherry blossoms flashed in his mind. “But I was found and rescued. My life was saved. I devoted my life to my saviors as thanks.”

“And that was Vi’s…?”

“Vivi’s ancestors, yes. I’ve been with her family for about four generations now.”

“Wow…” Lewis had no idea how long kitsunes could live. Maybe they were immortal beings as far as he knew. But to see someone like Mystery relate with a kitten of all things… The ghost couldn’t hold back a chuckle. So Mystery could be parental as well. He made a mental note of that for later.

Even when Vivi finished her shower and paraded through back to their room (having no shame whatsoever), Lewis stayed where he was. The gentle mewls of the kittens were soothing, in a way. He desperately wanted to pick at least one of them up but refrained. The last thing they needed was the mother to become upset.

A wet nose landed on his arm. “You and Vivi should rest,” Mystery announced. “I’ll stay by them. And Vivi and Arthur will complain if you’re not with them in themorning.”

True, they would. Smiling, Lewis gave Mystery a gentle scratch behind his ears and stood up. “Alright, we’ll hold you to that. Just pray that Arthur doesn’t freak out too badly when he sees them.” There was a sound from Mystery that almost sounded like a scoff. Whether the blonde liked cats or not wasn’t important to him right now.

–

“Whoa, uh…when did Mystery become a mom?”

Vivi had to cover her mouth to muffle her laughter. The first thing she and her boys had walked in on were the kittens crawling all over her dog, with the mother cat happily nestled next to him. It was so weird to see Mystery like this, acting like an actual dog and caring for such tiny creatures, but he didn’t seem to mind their antics at all.

In fact if Arthur didn’t know any better, he’d say Mystery was enjoying himself. Though he didn’t seem very amused at his little remark.

As soon as the kittens saw the new people, they dashed and fumbled all the way over to them. “They’re all doing much better this morning.” Mystery’s frown turned into a relieved smile. “Including the mother.”

“I’ll say,” Lewis replied with a grin, petting one of the kittens. “I can hear her purring from here. I’d say you got yourself a fan, Mystery.”

Could dogs, or foxes for that matter, blush? Because it certainly looked like Mystery did. “Maybe she’s adopted him too,” Arthur replied with a snicker. “Be careful Vivi, I think someone wants to take your dog away.”

Yep, he was definitely blushing. “You’re being ridiculous-!”

“Aw, I’m willing to share!”

_“VIVI!”_


	13. Moving On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Prompt: Maybe some more British Arthur? Like his parents funeral?
> 
> Given by an Anonymous, thanks a bunch :)

If there was one time in his life Lance was glad he was good at hiding his emotions, it was this.

He wanted to cry, and scream, demand that his brother get off his lazy ass out of that coffin, demand that his sister-in-law stop fooling around because this wasn’t funny anymore, but he couldn’t. _They_ couldn’t. This was real. And he hated every second of it.

But in times like this, he had to be strong. Someone had to, because around him there weren’t a pair of dry eyes in sight. His and Daniel’s parents, bless their hearts, had died some years ago of lung cancer (and Daniel would always chastise Lance about quitting his awful smoking habit lest he follow right after them). Theresa’s family had cut off all ties with her before her and Daniel had even met. She briefly explained that they were never fond of her choices in life and left it at that. Neither Daniel nor Lance wanted to push it.

He never thought his little brother would be the first one to go between them. Especially not like this; a damn car crash of all things. Lance bitterly snuffed out the cigarette he had finished off in a nearby ashtray.

Despite having no other blood relatives present, the Kingsmen family had been a couple of very well-respected individuals. Friends, acquaintances, neighbors, coworkers, business partners, Lance was floored by how many people came to pay their respects. It made him smile a little. He shouldn’t be too surprised.

Next to him, Lance heard a quiet sniffle. He was almost scared to respond but steeled himself to look over at the small child next to him.

Most of the time Lance was glad for his emotional self-control. The downside was that he was horrible at comforting people. Always had been. His own way of comforting was more aggressive than anything else, but here it didn’t seem…appropriate.

Lance put a gentle hand on the boy’s shoulder. He couldn’t think of anything to say to him. The kid was only ten years old. Lance couldn’t fathom losing the two people he loved the most at such a young age. He wasn’t going to tell him not to cry, not at his own parents’ funeral. So what the hell _did_ he say?

Maybe nothing. Arthur didn’t look like he wanted anyone to say anything to him right now. Large and tearful amber eyes looked up at him and Lance’s heart almost broke. But to his surprise, Arthur turned and buried his face into his uncle’s arm, crying his eyes out. “I-I…want them back…!” The child sobbed, pounding a fist onto the arm as well.

With a resigned sigh, Lance picked up his nephew and held him in his lap. “I know, kiddo…” the older man mumbled back, letting Arthur cry as much as he needed to. “I want them back too…”

Lance was ashamed to say he didn’t have much of a relationship with his nephew. With living an entire country away, he had only seen Arthur maybe three or four times in his life in person. And yet…here they were.

He wasn’t stupid. He was fully aware of what else he had to do while he was in the country, and Lance was certain Arthur wasn’t going to like it.

Once the funeral had concluded and everyone had left, two people still remained behind. Arthur stood by the grave of his parents and refused to move. “Arthur…” Lance sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Come on. We have to go too.”

“…No…”

“No?”

Arthur shook his head, fists clenching at his sides. “I…I’m gonna stay here.”

That strong hand made its way onto his shoulder again. “You know you can’t do that. They wouldn’t want you to sit here all the time and be sad. They want you to be happy.”

“B-but…!” Arthur sobbed, not even bothering to wipe his eyes. “How? How am I supposed to be happy when…when I’m n-never gonna see them again?!”

The same as before, Lance allowed Arthur to sob into his shoulder. He had a feeling this would be the norm for quite a while. “I…I’m gonna be all alone, aren’t I…?”

Arthur wasn’t expecting the gentle flick to his forehead, making him squeak. “Don’t be daft, Arthur. Just…listen. When…when the accident happened, I was called since I’m your father’s brother. They asked me if I wanted to take care of you in their stead…and I agreed.”

“You…?” The tears had paused and Arthur wiped some of them away with his sleeve. “Uncle Lance…you’re gonna take care of me?”

“Sure I am.” Now came the hard part. “But Arthur…you gotta understand.” This time he placed both hands on his nephew’s shoulders. “I…don’t live here. You know that, right?”

A nod. “Y-yeah. You live really far away. Are you gonna move here?”

“…No, I’m not. I can’t leave where I am right now, Arthur.” He tried to ignore the heartbroken look on the kid’s face. “So…you’ll have to move in with me.”

An uncomfortable silence overshadowed the duo as Arthur processed this information. “With…you?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll have to leave Mum and Dad?”

Lance resisted the urge to wince. “You’re not leaving them, kiddo. They just…they…” Shit, how did one explain this sort of thing to a child? He was horrible at this. “They’re never gone. As long as people remember, nobody ever really dies…”

God that was corny. Lance made a mental note to smack himself later.

“But…”

“Please, Arthur.” The last thing Lance wanted to do was force the kid. That would only gain them both resentment that neither of them needed. “I know it’s hard. Trust me…I know. But all your parents wanted was for you to be safe. You don’t want to have their last wish not to be granted, do you?”

The child quickly shook his head.

“I didn’t think so. And I promise, you’ll be safe with me. But you gotta come with me for it to work.” The mechanic stood up. “I’m not just going to leave you here by yourself. Dan and Theresa would never forgive me if I did.” Lance knew nobody would let Arthur be by himself. If the kid didn’t come with him…he’d probably be put in an orphanage, and Lance refused to let that happen to his only nephew.

He tried his best to give the kid a kind smile. “Now let’s go home, okay?”

Home… Arthur wouldn’t deny that sounded wonderful right about now. Today was awful and all he wanted to do was curl up in his mum’s arms and sleep.

But he couldn’t do that anymore. Lance was his family now and his heart throbbed painfully at the thought. He was leaving _everything_ behind. His uncle may have been his only family left but Arthur barely knew Lance. What if he didn’t like it there? What if nobody else liked him? What if Uncle Lance got tired of him? What if he was going to be alone forever? Why was everything so _wrong?_

Why did he have to get sick…?

“Arthur?”

The boy hiccupped and buried his face in his knees with a sob. Panicking, Lance knelt down next to his nephew once again. Did he say something wrong? “Whoa, hey, Arthur…! It’s _okay._ You’ll be fine, I promise!”

“I…I’m s-sorry…!”

Wait, what?

Lance tried not to look as confused as he felt. “Why are you sorry?”

Between the child’s sobbing, he could barely make out the answer. “I-I-it’s…m-my fault! They’re gone b-because of m-me…!” Lance felt his skin crawl. He was actually blaming himself?

“Kid, the hell did I _just_ say about being stupid?”

“But…b-but…they w-went out for…m-me… They were g-going to get m-medicine… I-If I wasn’t s-sick…”

A hang, surprisingly gentle, found its way onto Arthur’s forehead, and Lance winced when he felt the heat. “Stop right there. It wasn’t your fault. Don’t you dare say it was.” Whether the heat was from the fact the kid still had a fever or that he’d been crying almost nonstop for days, he didn’t know, probably both. His face had been red and he’d been sniffling all day but Lance just figured it was from the tears… “An’ we should probably still get that medicine. You’re burnin’ up.”

Since Arthur wasn’t moving, Lance did the next logical thing: he picked up his nephew. Needless to say, Arthur wasn’t expecting that. “U-uncle Lance-!”

“Come on. You needa get some sleep. I’ll handle everything, don’t you worry.”

Arthur tensed in his uncle’s arms. Hadn’t his parents said the exact same thing before the left? And look how that turned out. “What if…what if you get hurt too…?”

The kid’s concern was actually rather touching. “I work on cars for a living. Nothing’s gonna hurt me.” It was the best response he could give Arthur for the moment. “It wasn’t your fault, you got that? I’ll keep sayin’ it until you get it through your thick skull.”

What in the world did he say? The tears just wouldn’t stop…but these were different. “…You won’t let me be alone…?”

“’Course not.” Lance managed a grin and ruffled his nephew’s hair, which actually earned him a soft laugh. “A king can’t be all alone after all, right?”

The kid tried to smooth his hair back, and for the first time in days, actually smiled. It was small, and strained, but that and the laugh was more than Lance could ask for now. It was a step in the right direction. “R-right.”

_“You named him Arthur? Seriously, Dan?”_

_“Figured I’d keep the tradition going. It’s not like you’re gonna have kids this century.”_

_“Shaddup. Still, named after the king himself, huh?”_

_“Reese thought it was appropriate and wasn’t gonna complain. I’ll send you some pictures, okay?”_

_“You sure as hell better. Don’t procrastinate like you always do.”_

_“Now it’s **your** turn to shut up!”_

Hell…he didn’t mean to get so lost in his memories.

“Uncle Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“…Y-you said you worked on cars?” This was followed me a soft sneeze.

“What about it?”

“Um…but I thought Dad said that you were a wre-”

“We don’t talk about that, Arthur.” Lance cut his nephew off quick. “We don’t _ever_ talk about that.”

Arthur snapped his mouth shut but his mind was racing. If it was true that his uncle worked on cars, then maybe he could do something. Maybe he could learn if Lance was willing to teach him.

Nobody deserved to lose people special to them, after all. And he’d do his damnest to make sure nothing like this ever happened again.

–

_“Arthur!”_

“–!!! Bloody _Christ,_ Lewis-!”

The ghost winced and quickly took his hand away. “Sorry! Sorry… I just, I tried to call your name a few times but you didn’t answer…”

Sighing, Arthur rubbed his shoulder and turned to face Lewis, mumbling about how it was fine, just startled him was all. But by the look on Lewis’ face, something else was eating away at his mind. “Wh-what?” The blond asked. “Why are you staring at me like that? I said it was no big deal.”

“No, it’s not that,” Lewis replied, and Arthur was confused why he was smiling at him as well. “It’s just, your accent. You’re talking in it.”

Arthur paled. “Wha-?!” And smacked his flesh hand over his mouth. Shit. “Goddammit, I’m _so_ sorry, I swear I didn’t mean to-”

Lew’s gentle hand moved his away from his mouth. The smile was still there. “Artie, how many times do we have to tell you? We love your accent. In fact, Vivi’s gonna be mad I heard you and she didn’t.” And knowing the blue beauty, she’d want compensation. Lewis knew he didn’t even have to say it.

“Oh…” Sheepishly, Arthur looked away. “R-right. Sorry…it’s just r-reflex.”

“I understand.” They separated but Lewis continued. “What’s the occasion, if you don’t mind me asking? Last time we heard your accent, we were in England.”

Arthur’s smile was sad and Lewis’ hidden heart throbbed painfully in his chest. “Nothing. Just…lost down memory lane, I guess.”


	14. Experiment Gone Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Prompt: How about Vivi messing up a spell or something, and the gang has to help her do damage control slash reverse its effects?
> 
> Submitted by Anonymous, thanks a bunch :)
> 
> Also if you are easily offended by gender politics, I suggest not reading this. This isn't meant to offend anyone. It's just for fun.

“Holy shit.”

This hadn’t gone how she planned at all.

“Are you sure you’re alright? Should you even be standing?!”

“Relax, Lew. She can’t be hurt that bad.” Arthur paused and tried to hold back a laugh. “Tried” being the key word. “Or I guess I should say _he _can’t be hurt that bad.”__

__“Was that really necessary?”_ _

__“Well that’s what she is! Right?”_ _

__Vivi didn’t answer, too distracted with the mirror. Her feminine features had been replaced with more masculine lineaments, her chest had shrunk (which she wasn’t complaining about too much), and it was so _weird_ feeling something between her legs like this! And guys had to deal with that all the time?_ _

__Sheesh… She hadn’t meant to botch the spell up this badly. All she wanted was to make a potion that would enhance her strength for a bit, not… _this._ Either she had misread something or one of her little Deadbeat assistants had given her the wrong ingredient. She could believe either at this point._ _

__“Vivi?” The suddenly turned male didn’t react when he felt a large hand on his shoulder. “Hey…answer me? You’re freaking me out here.”_ _

__Mm. Better stop scaring the boo then. “Damn…” Vivi mused, still trying to get used to the unfamiliar, deeper voice coming out of his mouth. But he grinned nonetheless. “I make a hot dude.”_ _

__There was a pause before Arthur completely lost his shit and had to hold onto the sink to avoid falling over from laughter. “Oh my _god_ Vivi!” He wheezed between guffaws, his robotic arm clutching his stomach._ _

__Lewis sighed and rubbed his temples, as if trying to cure a headache he couldn’t actually have anymore. “Can we be serious for a second and focus on reversing whatever happened here?”_ _

__“Oh? Whassa matter, Lewlew?” Changing sexes also increased his height, much to Vivi’s pleasure. He still wasn’t as tall as Lewis (nobody was), but he was eyelevel with Arthur now and he considered that a personal victory. With his new height, Vivi stood on his tiptoes to look his ghostly boyfriend straight in his hollowed out eyes. “You don’t think I’m hot like this?~” He teased._ _

__Lewis was vaguely aware of Arthur laughing harder in the background. And the _look_ Vivi was giving him was just…_ _

__God. Male or female, Vivi had the sultry gaze down pat. “Th-that’s not what I meant.”_ _

__“So you _do_ think I’m sexy.” He wrapped his arms around the back of Lewis’ neck, booping their noses together (and relishing in the fact he could now do that while standing). Teasing Vivi was out full force. There was no escaping him._ _

__“Well um…” It wasn’t like Vivi was wrong. This was still his Vivi no matter what sh– _he_ looked like. The ghost just wasn’t prepared for this, especially not so early in the morning. “Yes?”_ _

__“Is that a question or no?”_ _

__“No.”_ _

__“Perfect!” Vivi raised himself a little higher to plant a kiss on Lew’s lips before pulling away. At least kissing still felt the same._ _

__It took Lewis a few seconds to come out of his daze. He didn’t think he’d ever be prepared for anything Vivi was capable of, even after knowing her– _him_ for so long (that was going to take a while to get used to). The silence that followed made Lewis realize Arthur had stopped laughing and both he and Vivi gave their other lover a glance._ _

__His whole body was leaning on the counter now. “Oh don’t mind me,” Arthur remarked with a short wave of his hand, grinning. The other one had his phone aimed right at them. “Carry on.”_ _

__“…Arthur were you _filming_ that?”_ _

__“What? This shit’s hilarious; I’m gonna be YouTube famous.”_ _

__“Don’t you dare.”_ _

__Snickering, Arthur pressed a few things on his phone before pocketing it. “Seriously Vivi, you look fine. Give Lew a break.”_ _

__“Damn right I do~”_ _

__Okaaaay, time to get back on track. Lewis cleared his throat. “So is this permanent?”_ _

__“I don’t know,” Vivi replied with a shrug. “I mean the initial potion was supposed to have a temporary result so I’m guessing it’s the same. But maybe it isn’t since I don’t really know what went wrong. If it is permanent then I could be in trouble since I don’t really have any clothes that…fit me anymore.”_ _

__“Is that why you’re walking around without pants?” Arthur was on a roll today. It was actually kind of nice to see him so relaxed and joking with the both of them. Vivi grinned._ _

__“Well yeah. What, did you think I like walking around without pants, Artie?” Now it was the blonde’s turn for Vivi to torment tease. He leaned on his right shoulder and pecked his cheek. “I’d prefer to see that on either of you two.”_ _

__It took all of Lewis’ restraint not to laugh at Arthur’s face. The redness went all the way up to his ears! Sometimes the mechanic could be too cute for his own good… In fact that was probably why Vivi was zeroing in on him now. He already had his turn. “I can probably make a reversing potion but I’m not sure how long that’ll take. You think I can borrow some of your clothes while I’m like this?” The bluenette leered at Arthur, brushing some of those bedhead blonde locks out of his face._ _

__Vivi in Arthur’s clothes? Color both boys interested. “Uh…s-sure. No problem.”_ _

__“Great! Thanks!” Arthur was rewarded with another kiss, this one juuuuust under his ear, making the blonde shudder and blush even harder. “But in the meantime, I don’t think seeing what this new body is like sounds like a bad idea~”_ _

__At this rate, Arthur was going to turn into a tomato. Lewis tried to come to his rescue from the oh-so-vicious teasing. “Vivi, shouldn’t making the reverse potion be top priority?”_ _

__“Oh heeeeeeeeeell no, I wanna experience this! Do you have any idea how many times I’ve wondered what it’s like to be a guy? This probably isn’t gonna happen again so lemme enjoy it.”_ _

__Well, he tried. The ghost smiled nervously at Arthur and shrugged. He was on his own. “U-um, h-h-here, I’ll…I’ll g-go grab you s-some clothes real quick, berightback!” Somehow Arthur managed to slip through Vivi’s hold and dash back into their shared room. Damn he was fast._ _

__“Awww…” Crossing his arms, Vivi pouted. “Party pooper.”_ _

__“He did look pretty cute though,” Lewis replied while putting an arm around Vivi (still reveling in his new height). “Come on. We should probably catch up to him before he explodes. And you really should put some clothes on.”_ _

__That earned Lewis a raspberry. Very mature, Vivi. “You’re both party poopers.”_ _

__“Only for you, darling~”_ _


	15. Someone to Listen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two of my Deadbeat obsession. I just wanted to write cute things :3
> 
> Believe it or not, this is actually my most popular fic on Tumblr.

“No thanks. You guys go on without me.”

A phrase Lewis and Vivi were getting all too familiar with. “Are you sure, Artie? We’d miss you.”

_No you wouldn’t._ “It’s fine, Vivi. I’m not all that hungry anyway.”

The bluenette and her boo shared a look. “Well…okay then.” Lewis sounded disappointed. As much as they wanted to, they couldn’t force him to go. “Do you want us to pick you up anything?”

“I’m good. You two have fun.”

He couldn’t even turn around to look at them as they silently left. It was too hard.

They needed time to rekindle things. Bring their relationship to where it used to be. And if he was there, he would only get in the way. That was all he ever did.

They didn’t need the third wheel.

–

“He’s avoiding us.”

Lewis didn’t turn to look at Vivi as she spoke. “I know.” And Lewis had a feeling he knew why. This had been going on for weeks now, Arthur refusing to come with them even when he was invited. And while he was grateful to spend time with Vivi…the ghost knew that if things were ever going to get better, truly better, then he needed to speak with Arthur as well.

But the blond always had an excuse. He was too tired, he was too busy, work had kept him later than normal, etc. It made Lew’s already short temper rise. Getting things back to the way they were before he died might be impossible, but he at least didn’t want it to feel like…like this. Like he and Arthur were walking on eggshells every time they saw each other.

He just didn’t know what to do. How could he fix this?

“We’ll get him something anyway. I know he said he didn’t want anything but…”

“Yeah…”

–

As the two of them left, a group of Deadbeats looked on, sensing their master’s distress. Why was he upset? Miss Vivi was upset too. Was there anything they could do?

One of them turned their attention to the door Master and Miss Vivi just came from. Oh. That was Mr. Artie’s room, wasn’t it? They were told not to go in there because Mr. Artie scared so easy. It was strange since he had been the one Master had wanted to scare the most at first. But things had changed now. Now Master didn’t want Mr. Artie to be scared or upset.

Maybe he was? Maybe that was why Master and Miss Vivi looked so sad? It wouldn’t hurt to check…

–

He was pushing them away. He knew he was and it bothered him more than he ever cared to let on. But this was for the best. Lewis and Vivi would get back together and be happy and then wouldn’t even notice if he just…

Disappeared.

That was the plan, anyway. It had already begun even before Lewis died and there was no reason it wouldn’t continue. The two of them were just hopelessly in love before, Lewis had even proposed when the two of them graduated. Arthur just wanted his friends to be happy. That’s all.

And if they were happier without him? So be it. He could live with that.

Arthur was so preoccupied with modifying his arm (which somehow included taking it apart and putting it back together multiple times) that he didn’t even notice a strange noise coming from his door, or a small purple ghost inching its way closer to him. Only when he felt a small touch to his left shoulder did his body freeze for a split second before jerking his chair to the side. “What the-!?”

The lone Deadbeat floated there, having retracted its stubby little hand guiltily. It hadn’t meant to scare him! “Oh…one of you guys, huh?” Arthur asked, anxiety going down. These little guys were relatively harmless unless Lewis told them otherwise. Hopefully. “What do you want?”

He felt bad when he saw the little ghost wince. What he said did sound a little harsh… Nervously Arthur rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean…did you need something?”

And then he felt foolish. Not once had Arthur ever heard the Deadbeats speak that wasn’t in song. Whether it was because they chose not to or because they just outright couldn’t, Arthur didn’t know, but he had a sneaking suspicion it was the latter. Lewis might have just taught them how to say the words to the music, but otherwise…

At least the Deadbeat seemed to understand him. It tilted his head and floated around the room for a bit, searching. Finally its glowing eyes came across something they had never seen before and it quickly flew over to it. Arthur had to admit…they were kinda cute, especially looking so curious and its hands and face squished against the terrarium.

“That? That’s Galahad, my hamster.” Beady black eyes stared back at the ghostly intruder. Galahad wasn’t so sure about this thing, whatever it was. And if it was after his sunflower seeds then it could forget it! “Have you ever seen a hamster before?”

It hadn’t. The Deadbeat shook its head and turned its head towards Arthur with a questioning chirp. Smiling, Arthur walked over and picked up the rather large hamster with his (currently) only working hand. “Well, he’s my buddy. Helps me around work sometimes too, kinda like how you guys help Lewis around the house.” Maybe not exactly like that but it was the best comparison Arthur could come up with. It got through to the Deadbeat if the nod was anything to go by. Timidly the ghost reached out one of its nubs to try and touch the hamster. Galahad sniffed…and ultimately turned his nose up. 

“Ah…” Aw, Arthur was starting to feel bad again. The Deadbeat looked so defeated, the heart in its chest even turning a little blue. “Hey, don’t take it so personally. Galahad’s just not a fan of strangers is all. It’s nothing against you.” Gently Arthur replaced his hamster back into his large living space.

“Listen, I…I gotta get back to work, okay?” The mechanic motioned to his arm still on his work bench. “I still have to finish a few things on this.” So in other words, no more distractions. Hopefully the little ghost would get it and leave without complaints.

He didn’t hear anything for a few minutes and Arthur assumed the Deadbeat had left. But soon enough Arthur caught a small speck of purple in his peripheral vision.

But it wasn’t doing anything distracting, just floating there and staring vividly at the metal prosthetic. It pointed with a curious glance. “Oh, this…it’s just my arm. Nothing great, I just have to make sure it’s working properly or…I won’t have an arm.”

It didn’t answer, only continued to stare. A part of Arthur was a little uncomfortable but another part of him was almost…flattered? Nobody had ever taken such a large interest in his work before. It was kind of nice actually… “Do you…wanna watch?” Arthur offered and was surprised when the Deadbeat gave a pleased chirp this time before landing straight on his left shoulder.

The enthusiasm was a warm welcome but Arthur winced. “Um…I appreciate it but… Could you…?” He awkwardly tapped his right shoulder and immediately the Deadbeat moved over to that one instead. “Whew…thank you.”

And as awkward as it was, Arthur appreciated the company. Galahad was a wonderful pet and friend but he seemed preoccupied with other things, hamster things, a lot of the time. Stealing his spare screws, rolling around at the speed of sound (haha), and just all around enjoying life as much as a hamster could.

He was so in the zone that the gentle touch to his cheek startled him a bit, but it was only his guest. The Deadbeat’s gaze was questioning once again as it continued to examine Arthur’s work. “I’m just working on the connector. Y’know it’s the…it’s the thing that helps it attach to my body.” The look he was getting was urging him to continue and Arthur felt his own shattered heart start to mend a little.

Maybe this was what he needed. Just someone to _listen._ He had people telling him all the time how to fix his life, not listening to him, or just outright ignoring him. But the Deadbeat was so entranced by every word. So willing to sit and hear Arthur explain the one thing he was most passionate about, even if it didn’t fully understand it. Before the blond even knew it, more explanations were pouring out of his mouth.

“Yeah, I had to build two connectors. One for this thing and one to actually put on my body so it would stay on. Then I had to figure out how it would move and calibrate it and…”

–

Lewis frowned. “Why are there only seven of you?”

They had been gone a few hours, mostly to give Arthur some space, but Lewis had gotten into the habit of doing a head count of his Deadbeats when coming back to the mansion.

And now one seemed to be missing.

Waving down one of his remaining Deadbeats, Lewis asked it if it had seen the missing one. The little ghost paused for a moment as if thinking about it…before nodding happily and pulling on Lewis’ sleeve to get him to follow.

He wasn’t expecting to be led straight to Arthur’s door. Vivi was the one who knocked. “Artie? Hey, we’re back. You in there?”

A moment passed where there was no answer, but eventually a small *click* sounded and the blond opened the door. “Welcome back,” Arthur replied with a small smile. He looked exhausted and…were his eyes bloodshot?

Vivi seemed to notice as well. “Arthur, are you alright? Your eyes and cheeks are all puffy…”

To their surprise, Arthur actually chuckled. And not a fake one either. This one sounded somewhat real. “It’s alright. I was just talking is all.” He gestured to his right shoulder and Lewis’ eyes lit up.

“Soprano! There you are!” The Deadbeat smiled when hearing its name and flew over to its Master, nuzzling Lew’s face. “So you were here all this time, huh?” His little ghost nodded before flying back over to Arthur and settling right back on his shoulder. “Aww… Artie, I think she likes you.”

So its name was Soprano, huh? Somehow Arthur wasn’t surprised. He had a feeling all of the Deadbeats had similar musical-themed names. “Wait…she?”

“Well yeah. What, you didn’t think all of them were guys, did you?”

“No, I just…didn’t really think about it I guess.”

Lewis smiled. It was wonderful to see his Beats and his friends getting along so well. “She wasn’t too much trouble for you, was she?”

Arthur paused.

_“I just want them to be happy. I don’t want to be in their way anymore. All I do is cause trouble and get in their way and get caught and…”_

_A small burble cut him off and two gentle nubs rubbed the top of his scalp through messy hair. It was as if she was saying, "No need to be sad. They love you. We all want you to stay. Please stay." ___

__“…No, she was fine. She…she’s a great listener, Lew.”_ _


	16. Scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one. Sorry about that. 
> 
> I'm still not sure what this is. Just something I needed to get out and vent, I guess.

He hadn’t realized it had been so bad.

“Hey Lewis?”

He had forgiven him. He _had,_ truly.

“Lewis?”

The rage was gone. But the fear was still there. It hadn’t vanished. Maybe it never would.

“Lew, you still with us? I just want to-”

Just one tap, one small touch to his back and he had jerked around immediately, backing away from the other as if terrified.

It was instinct. He hadn’t meant to do it. It wasn’t Arthur, _he knew this._ But he could still see it all perfectly. The other creeping up on him. Turning around at the last second. Feeling the hand on his chest shoving him backwards. The _sickening grin_ on Arthur’s face.

And the laughter. The horrible laughter… It still echoed in his mind to this day. Mocking him every time he rested.

Arthur looked crushed. His flesh hand had dropped to his side. “I…I’m sorry.”

“N-no, don’t be, _I’m_ sorry… I shouldn’t-sh-shouldn’t have reacted like that. Um…d-did you want something?”

“…No. Forget about it, Lewis.” His whole body was frozen as Arthur walked off, ashamed and broken. He couldn’t will himself to go after him. Not after that.

Lewis flopped his head into his hands. He wanted to cry. Why couldn’t he just let the damn memories go? Why did he have to see that haunting grin with Arthur’s face every time he closed his eyes? Hear that echoing laughter whenever Arthur spoke?

His heart floated out in front of him, form flickering back to a skeleton. It pulsed so weakly now. The cracks had only gotten larger. Anymore and…and it might break in half. What would happen if his anchor broke? Lewis didn’t want to particularly find out but…at this rate he might not have a choice. Vivi had healed some of it, but it seemed like with every crack Vivi managed to heal, two more would take its place.

He felt strange tears roll down his boney cheeks. There was no point in trying to stop them.

“Stop torturing us…” the ghost whimpered, bringing his heart to his forehead with a sob. “It wasn’t him. Stop trying to tell me it was…stop making everything so _wrong.”_

The laughter only increased in volume and Lewis clutched the sides of his skull, his heart dropping into his lap. _“STOP IT!”_

Please...


	17. A Helping Hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 3 of my Deadbeat obsession :P 
> 
> Small Lewthur (ot3) hints ahead.

If it was possible, Lewis almost fell over when a tiny orange blur whizzed past him. “Hey-!” And then a bigger orange blur almost did the same thing. “Galahad, get back here! I need that!”

Lewis stared. He didn’t mean to and he didn’t even realize he was. But he couldn’t get over how strange and wrong it felt to see Arthur without his left arm. The wife-beater tank top did nothing to hide the scars either.

“I swear, sometimes I regret making those wheels for him.” Arthur’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He was about to respond but a little chirping noise beat him to it.

Literally.

“I should’ve guessed this was where you were.”

Arthur turned his head, not even noticing Lewis was there before, and smiled softly. His guest, the Deadbeat on his shoulder, squealed happily at her master’s appearance and flew over to nuzzle the ghost’s face. “Soprano, you can’t just run off like that. You gotta tell me where you go or I worry.”

The little pink blob wilted, offering an apologetic chirp. Arthur didn’t need to understand what she said to understand what she meant. “It’s alright. I’m glad you were here and nowhere else.” That seemed to cheer Soprano up a bit and she resumed her spot on Arthur’s unmarred shoulder. “She’s really taken with you, Artie.”

“Y-yeah well, it’s nice to have some company that doesn’t run off with everything.” Arthur chuckled, giving the Deadbeat a little pat. He loved Galahad to pieces but _sometimes…_ Oh boy. Soprano sometimes took his tools as well but she always gave them right back. She was more curious than mischievous, unlike a certain rodent.

Lewis rose a brow. “Is that what happened?”

“Yeah,” Arthur replied with a sigh. “Little shit took one of my gyroscopes. Which I _really need!”_ But of course he got no response from his wheeled menace. “Great, now I have to make another one.”

“Gyroscopes?”

Ah yes. He’d almost forgotten Lewis was completely inept when it came to machines and electronics, especially now that he had a tendency to short them out if he wasn’t careful. “Right, it’s like the thing that lets my joints move. Like I can’t move my wrist without it.” He used his remaining arm as a demonstration.

“Oh.” Yeah that did sound pretty important. “Why don’t you just get it back from him?”

“You nuts?” Arthur laughed and waved for Lewis to follow him back in his room. It made Lewis happy for a moment. The blond wasn’t trying to avoid them anymore, or at least not as much as he used to. “I’ve got no idea where he keeps the things he takes. Trust me, I’ve looked everywhere. I swear the little guy just makes ‘em disappear into thin air. It’ll be easier to make another one then try to find where Galaham hid it.”

Lewis wasn’t so sure and apparently Soprano shared his sentiments. She flew out and puffed proudly in front of the mechanic, putting her hands on her “hips” and making loud mewls instead of chirps. Confused, Arthur looked towards his ghostly roommate, who seemed to be quite amused. “Uh, translation Lew?”

“She says she can find Galaham’s hiding spot.”

Well then. “O-oh, um, you don’t have to do that, bud,” he replied while grinning nervously at the pink ghost. “I’ve torn this place apart looking for where he hides those things, it’s a lost cause. Really it’s fine.”

Soprano wasn’t having it. She poked Arthur’s nose angrily and chirped again. “She’s very insistent,” Lewis translated, trying to hold back his laughs. “Just let her look, Arthur. It won’t hurt anything, will it?”

The mechanic shrugged, rubbing his nose. “I guess not, but still…”

Cheering, Soprano flew off immediately into other parts of the house and Arthur was stunned. How could anyone, let alone something like a Deadbeat (whatever they were) be happy to do him of all people a favor? He glanced over at Lewis and was surprised to see a small, knowing smile on the man’s face. Did Lewis know something he didn’t? Well obviously he knew a lot of other things but still…

“This probably won’t take long,” the magenta ghost assured, smile never wavering even when he turned towards Arthur.

The mechanic turned away in an attempt to hide the blush on his cheeks. “If you say so, buddy…”

–

He had no idea how right Lewis was until he saw it for himself. “Holy crap.”

There, under a loose tile in the living room (how had he missed that?) was practically everything Galaham had taken from Arthur over the years. Nuts, bolts, and screws went down deep, even parts of things he had completely forgotten about from ages ago. Arthur briefly wondered if the people under them noticed a large lump in their ceiling. Why did his hamster have to be such a huge kleptomaniac?

And at the top, there was his gyroscope. Soprano went down and scooped it up in her nubs, handing it out to Arthur happily. “Told you she’d find it,” Lewis said with a grin.

No kidding. Arthur held out his hand while the Deadbeat gently dropped it in his open palm. “Y-yeah…wow. Thanks, Soprano.” He grinned up at the tiny ghost. “You’re the best. This helps a lot, really!”

Her reaction wasn’t one Arthur was expecting. She squealed and swooned (wait what?), hiding her blushing cheeks with her nubby hands. If Arthur didn’t know any better, she was acting like one of those schoolgirls from one of those animes that Lew watches. Like whenever their “senpai noticed them” or however the expression went. Her chirping sounded especially happy too. Arthur wished he could understand her instead of just Lewis. All that just from a compliment?

Speaking of the taller ghost, Arthur failed to notice Lewis’ own blush as he made a grab for his Deadbeat’s tail, causing her to squeak when she was jerked away. “Um, I’m glad you got your thing back, Arthur. You’ve gotta excuse me though, I need to talk to her for a second.” And before Arthur could blink, the two ghosts had vanished. Before they left, Arthur had noticed Lew’s heart beating rather rapidly. But did the other forget that he couldn’t understand what the Deadbeats were saying?

Oh well, at least he got his part back. Now he had a hamster to deal with, plus maybe a little thank-you present for his tiny ghostly companion.

–

“Listen, I know you really like him and everything but-”

Some angry chirping was thrown his way.

“I _know,_ trust me I know better than all of you. But you can’t do things like that around him, okay?”

A sad burble.

“That’s the thing, I don’t know how he’d react. Vivi and I want to wait a little bit longer, until things get better. Just…keep it to yourself for now, alright?”


	18. Babysitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Prompt: Okay okay, so- I have no idea if you're taking prompts but, but! Hear me out. Mischievous child Vivi. She gets into the flour, climbs on top of tall structures, ends up wasting /all/ of the eggs by either throwing them or slowly chip away the shells, finger paints the walls and herself, ect. And Mystery is just trying to keep up with her and keep her from being injured, all the while unable to escape her rambunctious child ways. (●v●)
> 
> Given by Anonymous, thanks so much :)

“Vivi, get down from there!”

The child giggled. “Come get me, Mystery!” She teased, waving from atop the refrigerator (how did she even get up there?!). This was the third time this week the little blue girl had pulled something like this. First it was breaking all the eggs a few days ago, then getting into the flour of all things, and now this! This child was going to be the death of him, he swore. 

Sighing, Mystery looked around to find a stool or something so he could get up onto the counter. “You’re going to hurt yourself!” He chided as he pushed a chair over. “When your mother gets home, she will hear about this, young lady!”

All Mystery got in return was a raspberry. Evidently she didn’t care if her mom knew she’d been bad or not. She just wanted to have fun is all…at the cost of Mystery’s sanity, of course. The not-dog pulled himself onto the counter and barked at the top of the fridge. “Come on, you’re going to hurt yourself!”

Vivi didn’t seem fazed. She merely smiled and as soon as Mystery was about to climb onto the top with her, she jumped off. “Whee!~”

“VIVI-!” Luckily her landing was soft. Mystery was there in a second to break her fall, unfortunately having to resort to using his own body as a landing pad. “Oof-!” He was not pleased, and the mad giggling did not help matters any. At least Vivi didn’t weigh much, despite her massive appetite.

“See? I won’t ever be hurt!” The little girl exclaimed, hugging her dog happily. “You’ll always be there to save me, Mystery!”

He let out a huff. “Yes, but that doesn’t give you permission to seek out things you need to be saved from.”

She didn’t understand a lot of what he was saying but it was easy enough to guess. Vivi stuck her tongue out. “Bleh. You’re no fun.”

His ears perked up and Mystery looked over to grin at her. “Oh yeah?” He turned around and managed to slide Vivi off of him before mercilessly licking her face. The squeal she let out hurt his ears somewhat but it was totally worth it to hear her laugh.

“N-nooooooo!” Vivi managed to get out between laughs. “Mystery stooooooooooooop!”

He paused. “Do you give up?”

“Never!” She tackled her dog as best she could. A little roughhousing wouldn’t hurt either of them, sometimes Mystery even let Vivi win, but this wasn’t one of those times. Climbing on top of the fridge didn’t exactly win her any points. Eventually Mystery lay smug on top of Vivi, doggie-grinned down at her as she pouted.

“Now do you give up?”

“Cheater.”

“I did no such thing~”

Another raspberry and this time Mystery returned it. He was allowed to be a little childish himself sometimes, right? Hanging around a toddler all the time, he couldn’t help himself. ”Lemme go.”

“Only if you promise to behave yourself for the rest of the day.”

“But behaving’s no fuuuuuuuun…”

“Then you’ll just have to stay here forever then.” Mystery lied his head back down. Vivi did make for a pretty comfortable pillow, or at least she would if she didn’t wriggle around and whine so much.

“Nooooo! Lemme go!”

“Behave yourself and I will.”

She pouted even more but relented. “…Okay.”

Smiling, Mystery patted her blue head and stood up for her to climb to her feet and dash off into the living room. Probably off to pout somewhere else. He knew she hated losing.

It was a hard job sometimes but someone had to do it. It saved Vivi’s parents money on babysitters, and Mystery couldn’t say he wasn’t proud of Vivi himself sometimes. He loved this family…and was so glad he was given a second chance. He just hoped the ones above were proud of him…

And then a certain smell caught her attention. Oh by Amaterasu’s name, how had she moved that quickly?! “Vivi no! Not the paints!” He dashed into the living room himself. “You promised you’d behave!”

“Hehe! I had my fingers crossed!”


	19. Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have a lot of feelings about Lewis and him dealing with the fact that he's a ghost and that he was so wrong about Arthur :B

Arthur was so done.

Admittedly it couldn’t have been helped. They hadn’t said anything otherwise and he probably shouldn’t have gotten as angry at Lance as he did (he’d apologize later).

But he was just so _sick and tired_ of all this. Things had started to cool down. Lewis was staying with him and his uncle for now because Vivi wanted some time to think, but she was getting better. Lance had even gotten over the fact that Lewis was back as a ghost and “living” with them.

And then with just once sentence it all came crashing down.

“Told you Lewis would forgive you.”

The sound of something breaking went almost entirely unheard, but whatever Lewis dropped was ruined now. “Ah…w-well…” Arthur hadn’t known what to say and that was what set Lewis off. He wailed in anguish, sounding incredibly inhuman, and disappeared before their very eyes.

Needless to say the mechanic wasn’t happy. He knew it wasn’t right to be angry with Lance (and he had of a lot of explaining to do) but goddammit, why couldn’t things go well just _once_ in his fucking life?

“No, he didn’t forgive me!”

Now he was searching the town for the wayward ghost. Where the hell would Lewis go? He doubted he’d go to Vivi’s place, knowing she wanted to be alone, and there was no way he’d go back to his own home with his parents. He was trying to find a needle in a haystack here. Someone who stood out as much as Lewis really shouldn’t be this hard to find.

Unless he was keeping himself invisible. Oh man that would suck.

–

Lewis was so done.

Ever since he came back, he had caused nothing but grief for his friends. And that was putting it nicely. Trying to kill Arthur, Vivi not trusting him… He was glad Mystery had decided to be the happy medium between all of them but it didn’t matter. This was the last straw.

Lance had thought he wouldn’t be angry at Arthur. That he would be sensible enough to understand that it wasn’t the mechanic’s fault right away.

But he hadn’t. He had been stupid enough to think that Arthur wanted him dead; that he took _pleasure_ in killing his so-called “best friend”. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

His thoughts got away from him. What if his parents thought the same thing? That he would have forgiven Arthur if given the chance? What if they had told Arthur the same thing? He’d just made a liar out of all of them.

And so he sat, alone, in a dark corner of the cemetery. His first thought was to go to his grave but he couldn’t even bring himself to do that. The ghost couldn’t bear to see all the wonderful things written in his grave, things he didn’t deserve.

He wasn’t a caring person. He wasn’t the saint everyone he knew made him out to be. He was a _monster._

–

“Hi Lewis.”

Mr. Pepper smiled sadly as he walked up to his son’s grave, a fresh bunch of flowers in his arms. His favorites. He placed them gently in front of this headstone before sitting down.

“I’m sorry it’s just me today. Your mother and the girls wanted to visit too but things got a little crazy at the restaurant today.” The man chuckled to himself. “Seems like June got a little too excited in the kitchen again. She’s so much like her mother that it’s almost scary, y’know? Her and Alma both. And then of course Clover had that concert a few nights ago at school. She’s really gotten better at the violin. Says she wants to be as good as you someday.”

He felt himself tear up. He always did when visiting his son. Letting them fall for a moment, Mr. Pepper soon wiped them away. “I’m sorry. I know you wouldn’t want me crying. We’ve been getting better. It’s just…hard without you.”

Ever since the small boy ended up on their doorstep, he had been nothing but a joy in their lives. He loved the girls as much as a big brother should and always tried to help. At first Lewis called it “earning his keep”…but Mrs. Pepper wouldn’t have any of that. The boy was always welcome in their home; he didn’t have to “earn” anything. He was family. Even with the little drama at first, Lewis had been wonderful…

He was taken from them too soon. It had all been a horrible accident and they didn’t blame Arthur at all. Arthur was Lew’s best friend, his protector, and someone the Pepper family had welcomed into their home as well like a second son. They had no reason to doubt Arthur, especially when he confessed to them a sobbing mess what had happened.

Being angry at Arthur wouldn’t bring Lewis back. Nothing would. So there was no point in even trying to believe he had done it on purpose.

“…We all miss you,” he said softly, more tears going down his cheeks. It was a line he said every time he visited. “And…we hope that, wherever you are, you’re happy.”

It didn’t feel right staying here for much longer, at least not without everyone else. Sighing, Mr. Pepper stood up and placed a hand on top of the tombstone. “Be good, okay? I’ll see you later and I’ll bring everyone else next time.”

But just as he was about to leave, a noise made him pause. It sounded like someone was gasping for air? Mr. Pepper walked around his car and stared in surprise when he saw who was on the other side. “Arthur?” The poor kid looked completely out of breath! He dashed over and put a hand on Arthur’s back. “Arthur, what happened? Are you alright?”

The mechanic looked up at the familiar voice. Judging by the sweat running down his face, he must have been running around for a really long time. Always working himself too hard, this one. Mr. Pepper frowned. “F-fine…” Arthur answered after a moment. “I’m j-just…looking for someone.”

“In a cemetery?”

“…I’ve looked everywhere else.”

Fair enough.

“I haven’t seen anyone but I’d be happy to help you look around…who are you looking for?”

He felt Arthur tense under his hand. And he would know that look anywhere. That was the look Arthur got when he didn’t want someone to know something. He’d worn it just before he broke down about Lewis. “N-no it’s okay. I appreciate the help but I don’t think-”

Arthur was cut off as what sounded as a loud explosion erupted somewhere further into the cemetery, and what followed was an inhuman wail that sounded like several voices at once. Mr. Pepper watched in shocked awe as the purple fire (purple?) engulfed a large area in the distance. He couldn’t even speak, too busy processing what he just saw.

But he did hear Arthur mumble next to him, _“Shit.”_

–

One of these days Arthur hoped Lewis would get a stronger lid of that temper of his. If he exploded every time he got angry or stressed, then…well, they might need another house soon.

And in front of his dad of all people. Oh man, as if the ghost wasn’t upset enough. The mechanic avoided Mr. Pepper’s eyes and made a dash to the explosion sight. Luckily it wasn’t spreading, just contained to a small area. At least Lewis had enough sense not to destroy the entire graveyard.

“H-hey-!” Mr. Pepper exclaimed as Arthur ran off. Why in the world was he going there?! He could get hurt! Without thinking, the older man followed Arthur. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to find. A bomb of some kind? But how did it make purple fire?

He wasn’t sure if he was ready for the answer. A small crater had formed from the explosion, and in the center sat a figure, curled up and facing away from the both of them. Arthur panted, trying to catch his breath, before wobbling over to the figure and collapsing to his knees. The figure tensed up when he felt Arthur behind him. And Mr. Pepper was shocked to see Arthur hug whoever that was from behind.

“Hey, big guy…” the mechanic said softly. “I’m glad I found you. I was worried…”

The figure turned his head. Mr. Pepper’s heart nearly dropped at seeing a bleach-white skull, magenta flaming hair, glowing irises in black-void sockets…

He had never seen a ghost before. Lewis had talked about his adventures but never actually brought one home. And Mr. Pepper certainly wasn’t expecting ghosts (or whatever that was) to look like that…

But there was something so familiar about it.

“I-I’m sorry…” The voice echoed and it sent a chill down Mr. Pepper’s spine.

“Don’t be, man. It’s alright. I told you it’s all water under the bridge.” Arthur smiled sadly. “You won’t let me blame myself so like hell I’m gonna let you blame yourself.”

The ghost fell silent for a moment. “…That’s different.”

“And how’s it different?”

“Because it wasn’t your fault.”

Now didn’t that sound familiar?

The ghost continued. “Everything I did to you though, everything I said…that was my fault, _all_ my fault.” A strange magenta liquid started pouring from his eyes and down his cheekbones. “I was so stupid…I should have known better…”

Arthur scoffed. “Now you do. Come on, it’s late…let’s just go home?”

“…No. I’m staying here.”

“And just what the hell are you going to accomplish by staying here, huh?” Arthur gritted his teeth. “Would you just listen to me for one second?”

“I’m not going back!” He just had to get away from the people he had hurt; he would only hurt them again. Quickly Lewis phased through Arthur’s arms in an attempt to escape.

A pompadour? The more he saw of this ghost, the more familiar it was looking to him. The answer was on the tip of his tongue but Mr. Pepper was almost…afraid to say who the ghost kind of looked like.

Arthur wasn’t having any of this. They had just gotten Lewis back and like hell he was losing him again. He stood up and made a dive for the ghost. He didn’t catch him…but he did catch something else. Arthur landed with a *thud* on the ground, face first, but that didn’t matter. He looked up and smirked. “There. Now you can’t leave.”

For he had Lewis’ anchor in his hands. The ghost had frozen in place. “G-give it back…”

Arthur’s gaze hardened. “No. Not until you get it through your thick skull that we want you here.”

“Arthur, give it back.”

Instead of answering, the mechanic placed the cracked and beating heart into his pocket, zipping it up afterwards. He watched as Lewis’ hair lost its shape for a second and now it was his turn to lunge at the other. _“Give it back!!!”_

And while Mr. Pepper watched, he was a little uncomfortable. This…wasn’t like Arthur at all. He had never seen the boy so calm before.

**_“I don’t want to force you, Arthur! Don’t make me do it!”_ **

And the chef froze. The ghost was going to harm Arthur? No way he was going to let that ha-

“You won’t,” the blond replied with a scoff. Mr. Pepper couldn’t believe what he heard. Arthur, the one first to run away from danger, always down on himself and almost never confident in his abilities…was standing up to this admittedly terrifying creature like he was scolding a puppy.

And it worked. The ghost shrunk back as Arthur called his bluff. Where…had he seen this before?

“Besides, keep that up and you’re gonna scare your other visitor.”

Despite not having a face, it was easy to tell the ghost was confused. The only other person who knew about him was Vivi, and she would have made herself known ages ago. He watched as Arthur pointed his thumb behind him, and this time Mr. Pepper was certain his heart stopped a few seconds when his eyes met with magenta.

They stared, both unable to tear their eyes away. “Wh…why is he here…?” He looked more scared of the human rather than the other way around.

“Visiting, I guess,” Arthur replied with a nonchalant shrug, keeping a hand on his twitching pocket.

The ghost let out a helpless whimper and tried to hide himself behind Arthur. That was all the proof Mr. Pepper needed. He knew only one person that tall who would do something like that.

“…Lewis?”

–

If he still had a stomach, Lewis would have thrown up.

His father had just seen him acting like that. Threatening Arthur. If his image of his son hadn’t been destroyed already then it certainly was now. Even Arthur seemed surprised that Mr. Pepper had figured it out. Of course he knew he shouldn’t be. Lewis’ parents knew him better than anyone.

“Arthur, please give it back.”

And that wasn’t what Arthur was expecting to hear the first thing out of Lew’s mouth when reuniting with his father. “What-?”

“Please. _Please._ I have to go.” Lewis looked away from his dad for just a second, begging to Arthur. But as soon as he did, Mr. Pepper broke out into a run, throwing his arms around his son and knocking them both over.

_“LEWIS!”_ He couldn’t contain his happy sobs. “Oh my gosh, it’s _you! It really is you, you’re back!”_ His son looked so different but there was no doubt in his mind that this was his boy. The mannerisms, the way Arthur was acting, the way he refused to hurt Arthur…

“D-Dad…” The urge to return the embrace was strong, so strong that Lewis almost caved into it. But he stopped himself. A hug like this was too good for him. For now he ignored Arthur sitting down next to them. They had a lot to talk about. “You sh-shouldn’t be near me…”

Mr. Pepper shot his head up as if his son had said the most ridiculous thing in the world. “What? Lewis, what are you talking about? You’re here, why wouldn’t I be?”

The ghost couldn’t hold his father’s gaze. “…I’m a monster.”

If Lewis still had a nose, it most definitely would have been flicked. “Don’t you dare say that. You may look a little different but I know it’s you, Lewis.”

“No, you’re _wrong!”_ The ghost shook his skull vigorously. “I am a monster! I hurt Arthur! I’m not-n-not who you think I am, _I tried to kill him!”_

That certainly got the man’s attention. “Tried to…” He looked over to Arthur for confirmation but the mechanic didn’t seem to want to give a straight answer.

“Like I said. It’s water under the bridge. He was angry that I killed him and I don’t blame him at all.” Arthur was more than prepared for death the moment he confronted Lewis the second time. He was just lucky the ghost had been weakened and preoccupied with other things.

There was a long stretch of silence as everyone tried to think of what to do next, though Mr. Pepper refused to let go despite Lewis’ twitches now and again. “You forgave him?” The older chef eventually asked Arthur, who nodded. “And you’re not angry at all?” Another nod.

Mr. Pepper smiled up at his son. “Then…there you go. People make mistakes, Lewis…and the only way you can be truly forgiven is if you forgive yourself. Arthur has…you should do the same.” Now he was going to hug his son, goddammit. The smaller form trembled while happy tears went down his face. “I…we m-miss you so much, Lewis…”

Finally the ghost couldn’t take it anymore. He broke down and clung to his father like a lifeline. “I-I missed you too! I miss all of you! I w-wanted to see you so many times but…b-but…I didn’t think you would… Y-You recognized me…!”

Mr. Pepper let out a wet chuckle. “Of course I did, silly…what kind of father would I be if I couldn’t recognize my own son?”

Arthur smiled as he watched the two of them hug it out. This was just what Lewis needed, a chance to see his family again and be with people who he had done no wrong and would accept him no matter what. Maybe they would be able to calm him down enough for the two of them to start living together again…but until then, Lewis deserved to be happy with his family.

Something in his pocket buzzed and for a second Arthur thought it was Lewis’ still trapped anchor. But it was the other pocket and it turned out to be his phone. A text from his uncle.

_[Did you find him?]_

Ha. So Lance really was concerned. The old man was just a giant softy underneath all that gruff. And he knew that if he had been the cause for Lewis to vanish completely…Arthur would never forgive him. His nephew stole a look over at the sobbing and recovering family before texting back.

_[Yeah… I think things are gonna be okay now.]_


	20. Dreamweaver

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Prompts: Lewis sees Arthur's death in a way he wasn't expecting, how does he react?
> 
> This does have a happy ending, since I'm not one for needless angst haha. Also, this was written before 'Freaking Out' was released so some information here is probably wrong.

A tug on his sleeve made Lewis turn. “What’s wrong?” He asked his tiny Deadbeat, who was chirping wildly. “Soprano, you have to slow down. I can’t understand you when you talk that fast.”

Begrudgingly, Soprano complied and Lewis listened carefully. His face fell when it finally registered. “Crying? Why?” Another pause. “Oh…” Another nightmare. Lewis was glad that Arthur had been sleeping lately but most of the time it was accompanied by nightmares.

Lately Lewis had taken it upon himself to try and help Arthur’s frequent nightmare problems…without his best friend knowing. The ghost was more than aware Arthur wouldn’t be happy with him poking around in his head, especially without permission…but Lewis just couldn’t help himself. Arthur looked so pained while he slept; the bags under his eyes grew worse every day. He couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to do something.

Most of the time the dreams were relatively the same, and they all involved his death. The same image over and over again. It was hard to watch his death like this, and Arthur’s point of view only made it worse.

But Lewis resolved himself to this. Even if it killed him again, he would help Arthur back on his feet. He had suffered so much, kept so many things hidden, because of him. It was the least he could do. He would always hold Arthur at the top of the cliff, making the spirit possessing him vanish, and would always say the same thing.

“I forgive you.”

He’d keep saying it until Arthur finally accepted his forgiveness.

It helped too. Once the dream ended, Arthur remained asleep relatively peacefully and dreamless throughout the night. The bags under his eyes had started to wane. He even seemed more cheerful in the morning, something Vivi had taken notice of as well. But Lewis kept silent about it. He was a horrible liar and he knew he would give himself away if he spoke. And Arthur would be angry at him.

Maybe he’d get the courage to come out and say it later, but for right now, what Arthur didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

The crying was new however. Usually Arthur just looked pained or scared in his sleep. He didn’t look either of those now, just…sad. Silently weeping in his sleep. “Alright Artie,” he started while giving Soprano a tiny smile and gently placing a hand on his best friend’s forehead. “Let’s try this again.”

He was expecting the usual darkness of the cave, the green mist, the screaming of agony, and a broken man crouched on the edge of a cliff, grabbing his discolored arm. But there was none of that here.

Lewis recognized where he had manifested. Their home was a relatively small town but he was standing on the large bridge leading over a rushing river to the nearest city. In the springtime the river was always fast and dangerous, and the dream was showing just that. Why was Arthur dreaming about this place?

_“Arthur, please!”_

The voice made him freeze. That was Vivi’s voice. Slowly the ghost turned to see his girlfriend a few feet away on the other side of the bridge, leaning over. Lewis panicked. He didn’t know what the hell she was doing but if she leaned any further-! _“You don’t need to do this! Lewis wouldn’t have wanted this!”_

What?

_“Yes he would.”_

**What?!**

_“Please…you know Lewis. He would have understood… He’d know it wasn’t your fault.”_

Oh god…

Fearfully, Lewis floated over to the scene and he swore his heart gained another crack. Vivi wasn’t leaning over the side of the bridge because she was being careless. She was trying to reach out to Arthur.

Who, currently, was standing on the opposite side of the guard rail, instead leaning against it, and looking all too ready to jump.

_“It was my fault, Vivi.”_

He wasn’t ready for this.

_“It wasn’t you!”_

Neither Vivi nor Arthur had told him his so-called killer had tried to end his own life.

_“It might as well have been me.”_

Was this just a dream or was Arthur reliving what actually happened?

_“Please…please don’t leave me too…”_

Did Arthur honestly think this was better? That he wanted this?

_“Hey…maybe this way, he can be at peace.”_ Lewis watched in horror as Arthur leaned over the edge a little more. _“…You and Mystery don’t need me anyway. I’d just be in the way.”_

His vision went white as Arthur fell, as Vivi screamed. _**“NO!!”**_

“LEWIS!”

And then suddenly he was back in Arthur’s bedroom. Said mechanic was holding Lewis by one shoulder, trying to get him to snap out of it. His disembodied heart was beating wildly. “Lewis, you with me bud?”

…Right. It was just a dream. He’d…almost forgotten. “I…” But even if that was the case, Arthur’s words still rang in his mind. That Lewis wanted him to die. That he’d take his own life in order to make some kind of amends.

It made Lewis sick to think he had ever wanted that. For Arthur to be hurt, whether it be from his hand, from Vivi, from Mystery…or even from himself.

No, that wasn’t what he wanted. Not anymore, anyway… Arthur’s death wouldn’t have helped him move on. It only would have made things worse.

He felt Arthur give his shoulder another shake. “Snap out of it!”

“S-sorry…” Lewis replied, placing his hands over Arthur’s to make sure he was still there.

“Don’t be, man…but what’s wrong? What happened?”

Lewis flinched. He really didn’t want to explain what he just saw. “Nothing…”

Obviously Arthur wasn’t buying it. He gave Lewis a look. “You’re crying,” he pointed out, making Lewis brush his hand up to his boney cheek. Sure enough… “Also you were screaming in my ear, Lew. What’s going on and why are you in my room?”

–

Lewis was right about one thing. Arthur was less than happy for the ghost poking around in his head, even if it was for a good cause. At first Arthur was mortified that Lewis had seen so much. He knew his dreams had been getting better but he had no idea it was Lewis himself that was changing them.

But he couldn’t stay mad for long. Lewis was just trying to help, and he had been helping. Arthur was actually sleeping now and he had more energy during the day. As much as Arthur didn’t want to admit it, Lewis invading his dreams had been good for him.

But they’d talk more about that later and how not okay it was to invade his privacy like that. Right now there were some more pressing issues to attend to. “Is that what you were doing in my room then?”

Lewis nodded. He couldn’t meet Arthur’s gaze.

“You…saw what I was dreaming about tonight?”

Another nod. “Soprano told me…you were crying.” Out of the corner of his eye, Lewis could tell Arthur had turned an accusing glare to the little ghostie. “So I came in here to help like usual but…I-I thought it was just going to be the cave again. N-not…not that.”

An awkward silence descended between the two of them, neither were sure on what to say. Finally Lewis managed to speak up again. “…Is it true?”

“That I tried to jump off the bridge?” Arthur laughed bitterly and Lewis finally raised his head. “Yeah…yeah it’s true. It’d just gotten out of the hospital about a week before and couldn’t take it anymore. I was just so…tired…”

Just as Lewis was about to speak, Arthur continued. “I didn’t do it though, obviously. Wouldn’t be here if I did jump.” He could tell that was what Lewis was about to ask next. After all, in his dream, Arthur actually did jump. “Vivi managed to talk me off the ledge. I was being stupid and I’m not proud of what I almost did at all, Lewis. It was just…a-a moment of weakness.”

At least this time when he had one of those, nobody died. Barely.

“Lance wouldn’t let me out of his sight for a while after that…” And while somewhat annoying, it actually helped Arthur a little to know someone cared enough to make sure he didn’t do it again. “He and Vivi always made sure someone was there watching me and…trying to help me. I wouldn’t have made it this far without them.”

Lewis tried not to think about how much his heart hurt just by listening to Arthur talk. Timidly he reached over and placed a hand over Arthur’s flesh one. “I’m…glad you didn’t do it, Artie. I’m glad you’re still here.”

“…Really?”

A nod. “Yes. I would’ve probably been angry forever and never would have found out what really happened. Or I would’ve just been confused why I was still here even after your death. And we wouldn’t be sitting here like this…” He gave Arthur’s hand a squeeze. “…Thank you for telling me. I know it makes you uncomfortable…”

Arthur chuckled. “You already kinda saw it, dude. Besides…not telling you guys things just seems to bite us in the ass later on down the road, don’t you think?”

He had a point. “Mhm. And…I’m sorry for looking at your dreams without telling you.”

“…I have been wondering why I’ve been sleeping so well lately.” Arthur returned the squeeze. “Just, tell me next time? You know that sort of thing freaks me out.”

“Yeah I know, I’m sorry.”

Arthur shrugged. There wasn’t much he could do about it now. And it was hard to be mad at Lewis when he was just trying to help. “Well…I don’t think I’m gonna be able to get back to sleep tonight. You, like, I dunno, wanna go watch a movie or something?”

“…Sure. That sounds nice.” Lewis tried to smile and watched as Arthur reattached his prosthetic and step out of bed. A movie would be a nice distraction from his thoughts. Thoughts of Arthur’s demise…thoughts of becoming a wandering and misguided soul…

Before Arthur even made it to the door, he felt Lewis hug him from behind. Just like in his other dreams. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you’re alive.”


	21. Just a Phase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is going back to the headcanon that Lewis was bullied a lot due to his "girly" interests and dressing in "girly" clothing. Young Lewis has to go through some hard life decisions.
> 
> Inspired by my bae's work as well :3

Lewis slammed the door to his home and raced upstairs desperately. Today had been the last straw. If it wasn’t for him, nobody would be questioning his family. If it wasn’t for his stupid interests, what happened today would not have happened. 

He closed and locked the door to his room. On his dresser there sat a mirror and he stared long and hard at his twelve-year-old self. His eye was a bit bruised but nothing too bad. Nothing compared to what could have happened and what did happen to…

Lewis shook his head. No, never again. He was done being a burden to the wonderful people who had taken him into their home. And he was especially done being a burden to Arthur. Looking down at himself in disgust, he saw the culprits. 

“Stupid clothes…”

He gripped at the hem of his shirt. His mother had gotten it for him when she saw him admiring it a few weeks ago. Lewis had been so happy that he wore it right away…and only received ridicule for it everywhere but home. 

Biting his lip, he tore the shirt off and threw it into the corner of his room. He hated it now. That wasn’t him; he wasn’t supposed to wear things like that. The color, the style…it was for girls. And he was a boy. He had too many clothes for girls. Even some of his shirts that were in a boy’s style he couldn’t wear anymore because they were pink, or purple, or some other color that boys didn’t wear. 

Lewis choked back a sob as he opened his dresser, throwing out almost every shirt he had into the same corner. Some of them had frills, those had to go. Some of them were the wrong color, those had to go too. 

He was at it for about an hour before the phone rang. Oh…that was probably his mom. Usually he went over to the restaurant after school but today he had come straight home. He probably should pick up the phone so his parents weren’t worried about him.

Lewis hesitated but eventually worked up the courage to pick up the receiver. “H-hello?”

_“Lewis dear?”_ His mother sounded relieved over the phone. _“Are you alright? You didn’t come over to the restaurant after school, did something happen?”_

“N-no,” he answered, trying not to show in his voice that he was lying. “Sorry Mama. I just…I had a lot of homework today so I went home to start on it.”

There was a pause at the other end of the line and Lewis prayed that his mother hadn’t caught his lie. _“Are you sure?”_ She sounded suspicious this time.

“Y-yes, I’m sure. It’s, uh, math, and you know I’m not that great at it, so…”

_“Is Arthur there with you?”_ It wasn’t unusual for her to ask. Whenever Lewis had difficult math homework, Arthur was always the one to go to for help. 

Not today, however. “Arthur…had something to do after school today. S-so it’s just me.” And that was putting it nicely.

_“…”_ His mother remained silent over the line for a little while longer and Lewis held his breath. Had she bought it? _“Alright…will you be okay by yourself? We still have a few more hours at the restaurant.”_

Honestly Lewis preferred it, at least for today. He was just happy that she seemed to believe him for now. “That’s okay, Mama. I’ll be fine.”

_“Okay. We’ll be home as soon as we can. I love you, Lewis.”_

“…L-love you too, Mama. Give me regards to Dad and the girls too, okay?”

_“I will. You stay safe now. Don’t leave the house unless you absolutely have to.”_

“I know. I’ll see you later.” The line went dead on the other side and Lewis slowly hung up the phone. It was…time to get back to work, he supposed.

When he opened his bottoms drawer, he sighed. At least most of these were things he could wear…but there were a few skirts in here. Those he absolutely couldn’t wear anymore. Leaning down, he picked up a white one that his oldest sister had picked out for him. Everyone had said it looked great on him, at least until they were out in public and other people could see. 

He really loved these. Lewis sniffed but threw it into the corner as well. He was sorry that his parents had wasted so much money on those but…but that wasn’t him anymore.

“It was just a phase,” he told himself again and again. “I’m not like that anymore. I’m _not.”_

–

Something was wrong.

Mr. Pepper watched out of the corner of his eye as his son carried down a small basket of clothes to be washed. That was the second time this week that he had done that. Usually they only needed to do laundry once a week but all of a sudden Lewis had been wearing the same few sets of clothes for the past couple of days. 

To say he was worried would be an understatement. “Lewis?” Mr. Pepper called out with a small smile. “You look like you’re busy. Do you need some help?”

The boy paused and looked to his father nervously. “N-no, that’s okay. I got it.”

“Are you doing laundry?”

“…Yes.”

“You have more clothes than that though.” The older man walked over and placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Why don’t you just wear some of those? You don’t have to do the laundry so many times. We’ll do it all together.”

Lewis quickly looked away and Mr. Pepper knew he had touched a sensitive subject. “I…I can’t wear those clothes anymore, Dad.”

The concern came back in full. “Why not?” He replied softly, leaning down so he was more eyelevel with Lewis. 

“Because…they’re for girls. I’m a boy.”

A sigh. So it was this again. But usually Lewis tried not to pay it any mind. Had the bullies finally gotten to him? “Lewis. You know those clothes aren’t just for girls. They’re for everyone, no matter what gender. And you look wonderful in them.” Gently he turned Lewis so he was facing him. “Did someone tease you about this again? You shouldn’t let that get to you Lewis. You should wear what you want.”

Lewis couldn’t look his father in the eye. He hadn’t wanted to say anything, hadn’t wanted to burden them with something so stupid. He should have figured they would have found out sooner or later. “Th-this is what I want though. I don’t want to wear those clothes anymore.”

“Lewis,” Mr. Pepper said again. “What happened? You know you can tell me anything.”

“N-nothing!” Came the hurried reply. “Nothing happened! I just –I-it was just a phase, Dad, I swear!”

Mr. Pepper frowned. Lewis’ voice was getting higher, a sure sign that he wasn’t telling the truth. “What have your mother and I told you about lying, Lewis?”

“D…don’t do it?”

“You’re doing it.”

“…” He couldn’t exactly argue. Mr. Pepper waited for an explanation and was shocked when he felt Lewis start to tremble. “I…” Lewis hiccupped. He was crying. “I’m s-sorry…”

Immediately Mr. Pepper brought Lewis into his arms, picking him up and stroked his hair comfortingly. “It’s alright, Lewis…” he said softly while his son cried into his shoulder. The commotion caught the attention of Mrs. Pepper and she was by her husband’s side in a second.

“What happened?”

“I’m not sure,” her husband replied. “He hasn’t told me yet…”

“Here, bring him into the kitchen.”

He did as he was told, sitting down at the table with Lewis in his lap and still letting the boy cry it out. Mrs. Pepper joined the embrace and all but Lewis didn’t say a word as three little girls peeked their head into the kitchen as well. 

“A-Arthur got…in a big fight…” Lewis finally managed to say after calming down a little. “They were b-bothering me about…about what I wore again…a-and Arthur got really mad at them. They started fighting and…” He paused as his mother began to wipe his eyes. “There were a lot of them…Arthur protected me and he got hurt really badly…”

That explained a lot. Lewis never really cared what people said about him when he wore what he wanted. What tore him apart was when people started blaming others around him for what he wore. His parents had been called a few times into school because of fights that had centered around Lewis’ wardrobe. They heard the whispers of people saying if they wanted another girl, they shouldn’t have adopted a boy. The Pepper parents didn’t pay attention to them. It was Lewis’ choice to wear what he wanted and they would always support him.

Arthur was always there too when they couldn’t be. And now it seemed like it had gone too far. “Oh Lewis…” Mrs. Pepper cooed softly. “I’m so sorry that happened…but that doesn’t mean you have to stop wearing what you like.”

“I _don’t_ like them,” Lewis insisted. “They’ve caused you nothing but trouble.” Just as Mr. Pepper was about to interject, their son continued. “They got Arthur hurt. He’s still out from school because of the fight.” Both his parents looked at each other. They hadn’t known that. “I’m…I’m done. I’m sorry I caused you so much grief. It was just a phase…I’m not going to do it anymore.”

Again they could tell Lewis was lying, especially to himself. But who were they to say he couldn’t do that? “Alright…” Mr. Pepper said a little sadly. “We’ll take your old clothes and put them away somewhere, okay?”

“Okay…”

“And tomorrow we’ll go shopping for some new clothes so you don’t have to wear the same ones over and over again,” Mrs. Pepper spoke this time. “How does that sound, Lewis?”

“Sounds g-good…thank you…”

She waved to the three girls in the doorway and they ran to their brother for a large group hug. “You don’t need to thank us. We just want you to be happy, Lewis.

–

He was staring.

Vivi had dragged them out because she needed a nice outfit for her high school graduation, so of course the most reasonable thing to do was make her guy friends help her decide. Arthur had rolled his eyes but eventually agreed, and Lewis was always eager to hang out with his two best friends no matter what they did. 

But Lewis had been oddly quiet. Vivi had disappeared into the many isles of clothes and Arthur had wanted to go after her had Lewis’ staring not caught his attention. Curiously he followed his friend’s gaze and smiled a little.

“Hey, I think it’d fit you, big guy,” he said while giving Lewis a little nudge. He was eyeing a rather feminine looking top that would probably look really damn good on him. It might be a little tight but Arthur was convinced that Lewis could make anything look good. 

“Wha-?!” Lewis blushed fiercely when he realized he was caught staring. “A-Arthur, what are you talking about?”

“Come on. You were staring at that shirt, right?” He pointed to it. “Try it on!”

“N-no!” And Arthur drew back. “Are you crazy? I can’t wear that! It’s…” Lewis paused as if reliving something horrible. 

“It’s…what?”

Lewis shook his head. “Never mind. Just forget about it Arthur. What would Vivi think?”

“She’d probably think you were adorable.”

“No, she’d think I’m a freak.” Lewis wrapped his arms around himself. “Besides…I told you before. It was just a phase. Just drop it, please.”

With the subject dropped in his eyes, Lewis retreated back into the isles to look for Vivi. And as Arthur was left behind, he felt hurt. Lewis would never say it straight out but the mechanic knew he wasn’t wearing what he wanted anymore because of him. Because he got hurt.

Maybe one day he’d convince him otherwise.


	22. I Want You to Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Prompt: Can we have more lewis arthur pleaseeeee~?
> 
> Sent by Anonymous, thanks a bunch :>

“…I’m scared.”

Arthur was afraid to respond. Afraid to move, afraid to _breathe._ One sign that he did something wrong and all this progress could go completely down the drain. This was the first time he and Lewis had spoken civilly since that night in the mansion and like hell he was going to screw it up by saying the wrong thing.

“I don’t know what to do. I came back because I was angry. Because I thought I hated you. And I thought that being angry with you would keep me here longer.

“I…I’m not ready to move on, Arthur. I’m so scared. There’s so much I still want to do.”

Swallowing, Arthur finally found his voice again. “Lewis…if…i-if you’re not ready to move on and…and being angry with me keeps you there, then-”

“No, you don’t get it!” Instinctively Arthur took a step back at his best friend’s outburst and he hated himself for it. “When I…when I had you back there and you were begging me to take your life…”

They both flinched at the memory.

“I think that’s when I started to lose it. And then Mystery and Vivi explained to me what actually happened and…” Lewis shook his head. “I tried to stay angry, I really did. If I didn’t then I’d get pulled away from everyone…but…but I’m not. I wasn’t. I stopped being angry and now I don’t know what to do…”

Slowly, Arthur removed his hands from his pockets. “D-do you, uh, f-feel like you have to m-move on?”

“I don’t know…I just don’t.”

“O-okay, uh, does it feel like something’s making you leave?”

“…No? I don’t think so, anyway. I don’t feel like I have to go anywhere…”

Arthur tried to smile as best he could. “Then stay. I can tell you for a fact that n-nobody wants to see you go, Lew. Nobody wanted to the first time and…doing it again would probably be a lot harder on all of us. O-on Vivi.” He quickly shoved his hands back in his pockets and Lewis was silent as he studied Arthur’s face. The way he was unable to maintain eye contact with him, his nervous fidgeting, shoving his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t have to look at them. “Stay for her, at least,” Arthur continued. “A-and your parents, your family. They want to see you again so badly.”

Lewis felt his heart pulse warmly. That was just like Arthur; listening to his plight and making it sound so simple. Maybe he could do this. Maybe it was okay to stay…

But the way Arthur spoke made him frown. Nothing about himself. Memories started to resurface for Lewis. Arthur was excluding himself again, just like how he did before the cave even happened. “What about you?”

That seemed to surprise the other. Finally Arthur managed to make eye contact. “M-me?”

“Yeah you. Do you want me to stay?”

And the gaze dropped again. Lewis hated how his once best friend wasn’t even comfortable looking at him anymore. “Well yeah, you and Vivi work really well together and-”

“Arthur.” He quickly snapped his mouth shut at Lewis’ serious tone. “I’m not asking about Vivi right now. I’m asking about you. Do you want me to stay?” More than anything Lewis just wanted to know what was going on in that head of his. He could tell Arthur was keeping so many things to himself and it was killing him.

Not talking was what got them into this mess. Lewis knew it firsthand. If he had just come out and said what he wanted to say in the first place instead of beating around the bush like an idiot; instead of leading Arthur to a place where he could be possessed…

Well, there was no way to change that now. They had to fix this. And the first step was to assure Arthur that he really did want to fix this.

Arthur’s silence was unnerving. But soon Lewis noticed that his best friend had started to tremble and curl in on himself. “Of…of course I do…” Arthur finally managed to get out. “I want you here. I want you t-to live your life as well as you can, Lewis…” His gaze traveled down to his left hand. “I took everything from you. You at least deserve the chance to be with her. To be happy.”

“I’d like it if you were there too, y’know.”

Arthur froze. “…What?”

He sounded so shocked. Was it really that unbelievable that he would say such a thing? The feeling of déjà vu was overwhelming and Lewis was determined not to let it happen again. “Yeah. It wouldn’t be the same without you.” The ghost paused. “It wasn’t the same without you.”

There was no answer this time, though Lewis had a feeling Arthur was starting to piece it together. He and Vivi had noticed almost too late that Arthur was starting to pull away. The trip to the cave was supposed to be a start of reconciliation between all of them. Maybe they couldn’t pick up exactly where they left off but…letting Arthur isolate himself now just didn’t sit right with him.

“I…you…” Arthur didn’t know what to say. This was supposed to be about Lewis, how did the topic suddenly shift over to himself? “I don’t-”

The words died in his throat when Lewis extended a hand to him. “So if I stay, you stay,” he said with a tiny smile. “Deal?”

Waiting for Arthur’s answer was probably the hardest thing Lewis had to do for a while now. It was more than obvious that his friend was still nervous around him, but he was willing to at least try to fix it. Nothing would ever change if they just avoided each other for the rest of time. No, he wanted to fix this and he hoped Arthur felt the same.

His hidden heart pulsed a few more times as he watched Arthur slowly reach out to meet his hand. The grip was weak but at the same time so strong for what it meant. “Y-yeah…deal. I guess.” Finally, finally Arthur smiled. It was small and barely noticeable had Lewis not been paying so much attention but he took the victory where he could get it.

It was perhaps a bold move but Lewis couldn’t help himself. He held Arthur’s grip for a few more seconds before pulling the other into a hug. Arthur went rigid in his hold (of course he would) but Lewis made sure his embrace was gentle…just like how it used to be.

Slowly he felt Arthur begin to return the embrace, listening to his choked sobs. “Lewis…”

“I forgive you, Artie. I want to stay here… I want to fix things. I want to be friends with you again.”

“Y-you…forgive…” That was the last straw. With a strangled wail, Arthur buried his face into Lewis’ shoulder. “I-I’m sorry…! I’m so so sorry, Lewis!”

“It’s okay…”

“I didn’t want you to die!”

“I know…”

“P-please don’t leave! Don’t go!”

“I won’t. I’m not going anywhere.” Lewis could feel himself tearing up and he hugged Arthur closer. He could feel his cracked heart starting to mend. This was exactly what they both needed; forgiveness and acceptance. The first step towards recovery… “I promise.”


	23. Coffee Stains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Lewvi fluff <3
> 
> Also Deadbeats being cats. Because that is something I can't get rid of. Ever.

A sudden crashing sound from the kitchen made Lewis jump and the “eek!” that came with it didn’t settle him down any. “Vivi?!”

He flew faster than he could ever remember going to see Vivi sitting in a puddle of spilled coffee, ceramic shards all over the floor around her, and a Deadbeat frantically trying to see if she was alright. “What happened?”

“Oh uh…” Vivi smiled sheepishly. “It was just an accident, Lewlew. I was getting some coffee and uh, this little guy flew right under me. I didn’t wanna accidently step on him so tried to move out of the way and then…”

Lewis sighed. “You tripped. Yeah, they like to do that.” His gaze shifted over to the tiny ghost and Lewis glared at it. “Treble, you should know better. How many times do I have to tell you that you can’t just fly under people’s feet?”

Just like a cat, Vivi mused with a small giggle. The tiny ghost wilted and chirped out a small apology. “It’s okay, really. It’s just coffee, it’ll-”

“Vivi, your hand!”

“Huh?” She’d been reaching up to try to console Treble but paused at Lew’s sudden exclamation. Her hand was bleeding. “Oh…i-it’s nothing. It’s just a scratch, no big-”

But Lewis wasn’t having it. “Let me help you up.” By that he meant pick her up and he practically ushered her back to her room, Treble going into a nearby bathroom to pick up a first-aid kit. “Are you sure you’re okay? Did any place else get scratched? Did the coffee burn you?”

“Lewis, I’m fine. Stop being such a worrywart. I think the worst that happened is that now my clothes are stained.”

“Here, take them off then. It’s better to clean them now before the stain really sets in.”

“Oh?” Vivi grinned and it suddenly dawned on Lewis the implications of what he just said. “Geez Lew, if you wanted to see me naked, you didn’t have to have Treble trip me up~”

“Vivi…” Lewis said with a soft groan, the blush on his cheeks unmistakable. If she was starting this then it was obvious she was perfectly fine.

“You could’ve just asked.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

She knew, but sometimes Lewis was just way too easy to tease. He was asking for it there. “But the idea’s pretty appealing though, right?”

Lewis sighed as he set her down in their shared bedroom. Not to say Vivi didn’t look gorgeous with or without clothes on but well…he really didn’t want to focus on that right now. Treble came back in a few seconds later and handed his master the first-aid kit. “Can I at least wrap up your hand before your flirting gets even worse?”

“Aw, that’s mean,” Vivi replied and stuck out her tongue. “You love it.”

He gave her a look before wordlessly gesturing for Treble (and any remaining Deadbeats) to please leave the room. “Maybe,” Lewis purred, his voice suddenly sounding a lot less annoyed. It was time to start teasing back. He gently took her hand and began to clean away any blood. “Keep it up and we’ll see how much I love it.”

Oh geez. The way Lewis was looking at her made Vivi’s heart skip a beat. That damn smoulder. She could never resist it. “I like where this is going~”


	24. Old Wishes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is me getting Vithur feels and I blame this completely on Tristan. It is his idea and I had to write it out :V

Vivi ignored the knocking at her door. She didn’t care who it was; she wasn’t interested in seeing anybody right now.

“Vivi? Are you alright?”

“Go away, Mystery. I’m not in the mood.”

From behind the door, Mystery’s ears lowered. This latest case had hit both her and Arthur hard but for…completely different reasons. Arthur because possession was never easy, even if he willingly let it happen in order to let the spirit move on, and Vivi because…well…

“Come on. Open up and tell me what’s wrong…” He gave a soft little whine. “…Please? I’m worried about you. You haven’t come out of your room for hours.”

When he received no answer, Mystery tried to continue. “Just talk to me. You know…like you always did when you were a child. I’m here to help you. You know that.”

“I’m not a child.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me.”

The silence that followed almost prompted Mystery to try to pick the lock, or maybe even break the door down, but the sudden turning of the doorknob made him stop. Mystery’s ears stood straight up as he observed his “owner”. Her eyes were bloodshot and she looked completely exhausted. “Vivi…were you crying?”

She didn’t respond, only turned to go back into her room. But the fact that she didn’t close the door on him was a good enough indication that she wanted him to follow. Mystery did, politely closing the door as well, before jumping up on the bed with her.

Her reaction was almost instant. She clung to her dog desperately, burying her face in his fur; the same as she did when she was a child. Mystery was slightly glad that his source of comfort had never left. Awkwardly, Mystery rose a paw and patted her back. “There, there…”

“…How’s Arthur?”

“Exhausted. He passed out almost as soon as we got home, but he should be fine by morning. No damages as far as I can tell.”

“…Okay…”

She was stalling. With a sigh, Mystery nosed her cheek gently. “Tell me what’s wrong. Why are you so upset?”

“…It’s dumb…”

“No it’s not.” He nudged her again. “Tell me.”

Mystery didn’t react as Vivi held him tighter. “I just…it’s so unfair, you know? I mean, I know that ghost wanted to go on a date at least once before he passed on…” And that certainly wasn’t the weirdest last request the Skulls had heard in their time. “But…I hate that Arthur volunteered himself to be possessed just so that ghost could go on a date…with me.”

“Vivi…”

“I know we were both pretty much the only ones willing to do something so…well, weird. And the ghost didn’t do anything to Arthur so I…I really don’t have a reason to be upset…”

“It’s because of what he said, isn’t it?” Mystery cut her off. He knew Vivi well enough to get her point when she was beating around it. “Of what that ghost said through Arthur.”

Vivi let out a shaky breath. “…I…I know I shouldn’t feel this way. He already said no to me before. I just need to get over it and move on, I know. But…it was his face and his voice saying all those things to me and…and I guess I just wish it was…genuine.

“I know I love him. Lewis and I both love him. But Lewis isn’t around anymore and after the way we treated Arthur…” She cut herself off this time with a wet chuckle and Mystery whined as he realized Vivi was crying again. “I g-guess it’s no surprise he doesn’t like me back, huh…? I’m…a pretty horrible person.”

“No you’re not. Vivi, why would you say that?”

This time her laughs were followed by soft whimpers. “W-we were driving him away, Mystery…” Vivi answered as best she could. “And by the time we realized it…it was too l-late.”

With that said, Vivi fell silent and Mystery could tell she was done for the night. She was done talking and now all she wanted to do was hold onto her dog for dear life. But Mystery wasn’t done. He nudged her one last time and uttered a soft, “You’re not a horrible person, Vivi…”

They stayed that way the entire night.

–

When morning rolled around, it was as if last night never happened. Arthur was awake and seemingly back to normal (although a bit drowsy). Vivi was back to her bubbly self, acting like her sadness last night was a dream. Arthur was none the wiser.

They only one who didn’t seem to be normal was Mystery. Arthur could swear he saw the dog sending glares his way when his back was turned. Even when Arthur was looking, Mystery was giving him the evil eye. “…What’s your problem?”

His only response was a huff before Mystery turned away and trotted off to his “owner”. He didn’t blame Arthur for choosing to become possessed. He didn’t blame Arthur for passing out afterwards.

What he did blame him for was that, in certainly parts of the case last night, the ghost had chickened out. Mystery could tell immediately when Arthur was back in control, though he acted as if he was still the ghost; saying all those loving things about Vivi under the pretense that he was still possessed.

He debated on telling Vivi but decided against it. This wasn’t his secret to tell. This was something Arthur had to tell her on his own. And if he didn’t? Well…Mystery would never forgive him for playing with Vivi’s heart like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I need more interactions between Vivi and Mystery. Those two don't get enough love.


	25. I Know it's You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is what happens when tumblr users ectoimp and huppupbup work together. You get an amazing and inspiring team.
> 
> Based on the idea that Lewis reluctantly tags along with the group in order to protect Vivi and none of them, except for Mystery, know who he actually is. Arthur is suspicious and tries to get the ghost to confess who he really is the only way he’s certain how.

It was a simple test. If he walked (floated?) right past it without giving it a second glance, then all his suspicions were probably for naught. But he had to try this; had to satisfy this curiosity. All he had to do now was wait.

“What…is that?”

Bingo.

“What’s what?” Arthur resisted the urge to grin and looked back over at his computer screen to the absolute horror he had left there.

“That.” A certain screenshot from a certain Sailor Moon remake graced Arthur’s screen. Arthur had purposefully found one of the most horrendous early shots for just this reason alone. “It…looks like garbage.”

It was getting harder and harder to resist the urge to grin. “I thought you said you liked Sailor Moon.”

The ghost huffed and crossed his arms, looking away. So he had maybe enjoyed a song from the show that come on someone’s playlist. What was the big deal? “I didn’t say I liked it. All I said was that I knew about it, that’s all.”

He knew the ghost was lying. It had to be. “Whatever you say, man. And I dunno,” Arthur continued, leaning against the back of the van. “I don’t think it looks that bad. It’s probably better than the original.”

Oh man. Even without much of a face, Arthur could tell this ghost’s temper was rising through the roof. It looked like he was about to explode again. He knew he was playing with fate her, but fuck it, he was enjoying this probably a little more than he should. “That looks…better?!”

“Sure. That’s what remakes are supposed to do, aren’t they?” Again Arthur shrugged. “I mean that Serena character, or whatever her name is, isn’t nearly as annoying.” He could see the ghost’s whole body twitch at that. Lewis absolutely hated it when people called the characters by their dub names. “And then some of the plotlines aren’t as weird and contrived as they were before.”

Another twitch, and this one was much more visible. “Wh-wait, what’s contrived now?”

He was close; Arthur knew he was. “That whole crystal heart thing in one of the seasons? Contrived. And then of course there’s the whole thing of using a magic crystal to save brainwashed people with “the power of love” or whatever. And they did that like what, six or seven times?”

Now the ghost was actually getting defensive. “It’s not just that!” He exclaimed, and Arthur was almost certain he had won. “The crystal runs on more than just love! And she used way more than that to take the-”

Arthur cut the ghost off. “Come on. It’s dumb and cliché, even for a 90’s show.”

Uncharacteristically, the ghost was fully on the floor of the van and actually stomped his foot like a child having a temper tantrum. Well that was new. _**“You said you liked that arc!”**_

Silence.

Slowly, Arthur crossed his arms and raised a brow. “Did I?”

And now checkmate.

The ghost… _Lewis_ …had frozen up on the spot as soon as he realized what he said; what he implied. He could have easily just flown out of the van, turned invisible, gotten angry, anything…

But he did none of that. Instead, all he could do was sputter. “I…I…I-I can…uh…”

Arthur couldn’t help himself. The look of absolute shock on the others face was just incredible and he burst out into a fit of laughter. “O-oh my god, dude,” he managed to get out between giggles. “You should see your _face-!”_

The laughing fit lasted about a minute before it started to die down, ever so slightly. Suddenly it started back up again, faster than ever, but there was something different. Arthur was trembling this time, and he was…sobbing. Laughing and sobbing at the same time. The ghost felt his heart throb.

“L…Lewis?” Arthur choked on his words but somehow they managed to come through. Despite the tears, Arthur was grinning. “That… _is_ you…right?”

There was no point in hiding it now. Sighing, the skeleton ghost was engulfed in a familiar wave of pink flames, and a second later they died out to reveal the form of his best friend. The one that had gone missing.

The one that was dead.

“Yeah…” Lewis replied nervously, unable to meet Arthur’s gaze. “…It’s me.”

The silence that followed was extremely uncomfortable for the both of them. Eventually Lewis risked a look and was startled to see Arthur was full on shaking. His face was tilted towards the floor so the ghost couldn’t see it very well, but he could see the tears falling onto the floor of the van. “I…” Finally Arthur spoke up and raised his head, tears running down his cheeks like a waterfall and with the most relieved and broken smile Lewis had ever seen in his life and beyond.

“I finally found you…”


End file.
